If you think back to the good old days of 2008-2012 you might think of American President
Barack Obama, but the reality is that there was one man more famous than even the first
African American President and that man was Adam Richman, the host of Man vs. Food, a
highly popular television show from the Travel Channel.
The show followed Richman as he went from State to State, attempting to finish gigantic
meals, and while the show disappeared in 2012, the legend of Richman still lives on.
There's a lot to that show that people didn't and still don't realize and so we thought
we'd delve into the Top 10 things you didn't know about Man vs. Food and Adam Richman himself!
That Was Adam in Shape!
Or at least the best possible shape he could've been in considering his job forced him to
eat enough calories to keep the sun burning for another billion years.
If you see Adam Richman now you might not recognize him as he's dropped a ton of weight.
During the Man vs. Food years, Richman forced himself to work out twice a day just to maintain
the pudgy physicality that everyone fell in love with.
Despite his efforts, he still ended up gaining a copious amount of weight while on the show,
something that ended up putting him in a state of depression; his depression worsened due
to being single at the time, which he blamed on his weight, which made him more depressed,
and this sort of made a vicious cycle.
In an interview with People magazine after he dropped an astonishing 60-pounds, Richman
described how once he reached a point where he had sleep apnea from his weight gain he
decided enough was enough and retired from competitive eating (and the show itself).
That change came suddenly one day when Richman saw his reflection in a mirror and thought
that he was the size of a "Smart Car", so he cut out flour and dairy from his diet and
decided to throw out his favorite snacks like peanut butter and ice cream (presumably a
bathtub full of both).
The man best known for eating massive meals actually switched to eating tiny meals, and
lots of them, to reboot the metabolism that was destroyed by the show.
That means that he was eating 150-calorie meals every two hours, which for a man who'd
fast the day before a challenge, was clearly a gigantic change.
But, it worked, as Richman eventually bared it all for a centerfold shoot with Cosmo.
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Adam Richman Health Issues
As you'll learn later, the host of Man vs. Food, Adam Richman, wasn't a competitive eater
before he started the first competitive eating show that had one host traveling the United
States and attempting to best the legendary meals that different restaurants and diners
had to offer.
Because of his inexperience with competitive eating (and his high level intelligence as
is evident by the fact that he went to Yale), Richman consulted with doctors before he started
the show, a move that foreshadowed his early retirement as well.
In a live chat with ESPN Richman explained this move, saying: "I went to specialists
ahead of time because I wanted to start with a baseline of good health, versus correcting
bad health down the road."
Despite all that work (and the work he did according to the previous entry on this list),
Richman still ended up gaining an inordinate amount of weight, developing health problems
like sleep apnea and depression, and eventually had to give up the show that made him famous
after only four seasons.
Richman's Ridiculous Preparation During the Season
When watching Man vs. Food, you'd think that the only prep that went into each episode
of food gorging was Richman skipping breakfast and loosening his belt.
It turns out that there was a lot more that went into it, something that seems like it
would balance out the amount of calories Richman consumed, but instead perhaps ended up being
one of the main contributors to Richman's weight gain.
When discussing how he prepared for each show Richman said "If I do have a day off I don't
eat, or eat very minimally, and I drink a lot of water and club soda to keep my stomach
stretched and full and to keep myself hydrated".
That means that during the filming season, Richman's entire life was dictated by the
show and his upcoming episode.
As was mentioned earlier, Richman worked out like crazy while filming
not only to attempt to work off all the tens of thousands of calories he was consuming
at each sitting, but also because by working out he'd increase his appetite.
Richman concluded, "The most important aspect is that I work out like a beast.
I work out like a beast the night before and the morning of", so those workouts served
a dual purpose and again shows how much the show dominated his life.
Richman's Favorite Meals
There's no better way to really get information from celebrities these days than Reddit AMAs,
which stands for Ask Me Anything.
Richman participated in an AMA in 2015 and was asked which contest was his favorite and
which was his least favorite.
Richman admitted that, Spoiler Alert, he preferred some contests to others.
His favourite was the Kodiak Arrest contest at the Humpy's Alaskan Ale House.
According to Humpy's website, the Kodiak Arrest contest doesn't have bear meat in it, but
rather has every other food that Alaska is known for.
The challenge includes seven crab nuggets, 14 inches of reindeer sausage, three pounds
of Alaskan king crab, and different side dishes like cole slaw, Humpy's "famous" wild berry
crisp, and ice cream.
The website lists the record holder as Jeffery C., who completed that challenge in 12 minutes
and 10 seconds, which is likely about the amount of time he remained living after completing
that challenge.
If you live in Alaska or are planning to visit, make sure to pack your credit card as this
challenge runs a cool $179.99 and should you finish that meal in an hour or less, you'll
end up in their winners hall of fame, receive a "I got crabs at Humpy's" T-shirt.
And if you happen to beat Jeffrey C, you'll get that meal for free (the cost of your angioplasty
and stomach pumping falls on you, though).
His Least Favorite Challenge
Richman's least favorite challenge may surprise you, not because he failed it - he failed
more often than he won - but because it seems like one of the easier challenges for Richman.
This challenge actually ended up at the bottom of the barrel (and the bottom of a toilet
not long after) because the owner of the restaurant that hosted Man vs. Food had basically cheated
by adding "dangerously" spicy hot sauce to the wings that he served to Adam, something
that he neither explained to Richman or his team nor added to the challenge regularly.
Despite that, this challenge at least wins the award for the most apt name as the owner
of Munchie's 420 Cafe, in Sarasota, Florida, named his challenge the "Fire in Your Hole
Wings Challenge.
While that's pretty standard in terms of what they offer everyone, the problem stemmed from
the fact that the owner made the wings especially spicy for Richman, essentially to steal a
win for the television show.
That's probably because his challenge paled in comparison to the others, as the challenge
was to eat ten spicy wings in twenty minutes without drinking anything (which in Richman's
case was milk).
Richman only made it through two wings before throwing in his poison covered towel, and
while he was used to losing, it was the way in which he lost that clearly stuck with Richman
(not to mention the heartburn and ulcers).
Typical Types of Challenges: The Spicy Edition
As fans of Man vs. Food know, most of the food challenges that host Adam Richman found
himself in ended up falling into one of two categories (and sometimes, both); either quantity
based challenges or heat based challenges.
During an interview with the Guardian in the United Kingdom, Richman discussed his feelings
on both, saying that heat based challenges were "No big deal" as long as the restaurant
was using fresh peppers as opposed to the pepper extracts that some people use, saying:
"A good spicy challenge strikes a balance between flavor and fear".
As the braver of you probably know, fresh peppers aren't as spicy as hot sauces because
there's still some flavor to those peppers (unless you get to the innards and seeds,
which can be nightmares in and of themselves).
Extracts and hot sauces sacrifice that flavor for the pure heat that comes from those peppers,
and while some hot sauces do add additional ingredients to bring in that flavor, many
can be so hot that you lose all ability to taste anything beyond pain, and that's one
of the main situations in which Richman would find himself tapping out of challenges more
often than not.
Typical Types of Challenges: The Quantity Edition
Beyond spicy challenges, you'll find what most people think of when they hear "competitive
eating" is quantity based challenges.
Like the spicy challenges, Richman pointed out what factors make these challenges worse
than they are generally.
The biggest problem that one comes across when competing in a quantity based challenge
is food that contains starch and/or was deep friend.
Things like french fries, hash browns, baked potatoes, or mashed potatoes tend to fill
you up faster than other things like proteins (especially).
Those foods tend to feel like they're sitting in your stomach longer, which is why potatoes
were such a staple of meals for people who didn't have a lot of money back before the
days of the Potato Famine in Ireland, for example.
There are multiple theories as to what lead to that disaster that basically destroyed
all potato crops in the Emerald Isle, but I think we now know who was behind it.
That's right, Adam Richman.
The Seven Pound Breakfast Burrito Challenge
While Richman stated that his least favorite challenge ever was the "Fire in Your Hole"
challenge at Munchie's 420 Cafe in Sarasota, Florida, that was mainly because he felt that
the owner of Munchie's had essentially cheated by altering the challenge to ensure that Richman
would fail, which I guess would make his cafe look better on television (perhaps he was
out of shirts, or the larger point is that if we can no longer trust the owner of Munchie's
420 cafe, then we're in trouble as a species).
While that "least favorite" challenge involved some tomfoolery by the people making the food,
we also wanted to include the actual challenge that Richman had the most problems with, although
this entry also involves some outside factors.
The honor goes to the seven-pound breakfast burrito that Richman attempted to devour while
he was extremely sick.
During the above-mentioned ESPN Chat, Richman stated "I was extremely sick with a 101 fever
and a sinus infection.
Add to that I hate chunks of ham and green pepper in food and that dish had both.
Truly a sucky experience."
Considering all the sucky experiences it seemed like Richman had (and the eventual depression
he developed during the filming of the show), for this to be singled out as the suckiest
of sucky situations, means it must've been really bad.
Why The Show Ended
While it was mentioned that Richman gained a lot of weight during the filming of the
show and that that was detrimental to both his physical and mental health, Richman also
felt like the show had really just reached its logical conclusion and that there was
really nothing new that they could do or provide to its viewers.
Richman explained "The simplest way to put it is to say that the spectacle diminishes
over time", and so Richman took the Seinfeld and Michael Jordan (after his first and second
retirements) approach and instead of continuing the show for a couple more seasons while the
ratings dropped and his BMI increased, he pulled the plug.
While his health had something to do with that, Richman seemingly resented the rumors
that he had cancelled the show because of his health, at least solely.
In a Facebook post Richman stated "Okay.
Once and for ******* all - I am not dead, I am in good health thankfully, have suffered
no health setbacks.".
All this because someone wrote a fake obituary for Richman and the rumor spread online that
he was dead.
Richman called out that "blogger" and the "idiots [that] perpetuated the rumor" while
also saying "Sorry haters, I'm vigilant about my health.
Take that negative **** to St. Elsewhere.
Capice?".
That wasn't the last time that Richman lashed out at people online as he also went on an
epic rant (or ten) against people on Twitter after receiving some negative press for posting
a hashtag that was tied to the pro-anorexia crowd that exists online (as a joke).
He's Wasn't a Competitive Eater
Adam Richman seemed like the perfect fit for Man vs. Food as he was equal parts capable
of eating vast amounts of food and also charming and great on television.
That's not because he was just a competitive eater with a good personality, but rather
that he was an aspiring actor that liked to eat food.
After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia (With an undergraduate degree
in International Studies) and then eventually Yale's Drama School, Richman began his acting
career with a few guest roles on shows like All of My Children, Law & Order: Trial by
Jury, and Guiding Light.
His largest pre-Man vs. Food role was in 2004 as he portrayed a butcher on the show Joan
of Arcadia; he also kept his acting chops sharp by appearing in regional theater productions
around the United States, and he kept his wallet full by appearing in television commercials
as well (some of which were seen nationally).
He was the perfect fit for Man vs. Food, though, as he was essentially an expert of food before
he landed the show.
He kept a travel journal that included every restaurant he ate at since 1995 while also
self-educating himself on food and training to become a sushi chef.
The best way to describe Richman is that he seemed to be on his way to being the most
interesting man in the world . The one thing he wasn't though, was a competitive eater,
but he checked so many of the boxes that the Travel Channel wanted, they decided to cast
him in what will most likely be the role of a lifetime for Richman.
Thanks, Yale Drama School.
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