Beard Meats Food meets Northern Life

Think you’ve got a big appetite? Can you smash a large Domino’s pizza, demolish a KFC bucket or destroy a Chinese set meal all by yourself? I might be impressed if it wasn’t for the fact I’d just spoken to social media sensation Beard Meats Food who has taken on over a whopping 130 eating challenges and contests where he sometimes eats between 10-12lbs of food and consumes over 10,000 calories in just one sitting! I caught up with the Yorkshire mastermind, Beard Meats Food himself, Leeds lad, Adam Moran, 32, to ask him how he got started, how on earth he keeps himself (and his beard) in shape and what it’s like to ‘eat’ for a living.

Starting out

When Adam wanted to treat himself after a long diet his girlfriend suggested that he take on a Man Vs Food Challenge at his local restaurant. But what started out as a hope to win a T-shirt and a free meal quickly became a passion.

“What started out as a hope to win a T-shirt and a free meal quickly became a passion”

“I really enjoyed it. So I did a few more, then I started my YouTube channel as a hobby, I got a following and was invited to appear on TV and compete in contests abroad. It just snowballed.” Adam explains when I ask him how he got started as Britain’s Number One Competitive Eater.

Adam, better known as Beard Meats Food, previously worked at a stockbrokers for ten years. Now, alongside his eating, he creates promotional videos for restaurants and also dips into food photography and he hasn’t looked back.

“I love film making and photography and food just underpins that. There’s nobody out there that doesn’t like food so you’ve always got an audience you’re going to appeal to on some level!”

A YouTube sensation

And appeal he does. His YouTube channel has 186,000 subscribers where he posts his eating challenges. One recent challenge included ‘The Five KFC Festive Bucket Challenge’ where you guessed it; he ate a whopping FIVE Festive Buckets including drinks and TWO Krushems!

How does he do it?

“I’d be apprehensive to recommend someone does it!” Adam laughs, “But if you’ve got a healthy appetite there are a few tricks. I always fast for 24-hours before any big eating and drink a lot of water in the morning.”

He also explains that the type of food you’re eating can make a difference. Many restaurants base their challenges on hot dogs and burgers – foods that are naturally very filling – but he’s found a way around it:

“Eat the meat first. It’s not the prettiest way to do it but you need to get the meat down first as that’s the bulk of the meal. Things like bread will expand in your stomach so pick at that last.”

He evidently knows his stuff and eats a variety of different foods but are there any that he won’t eat?

“The only things I avoid in terms of eating challenges are spicy and hot challenges. Other than that I can eat pretty much anything except Brussel sprouts!”

So, if he could have a dream three course meal what would he eat?

“It sounds boring but a prawn salad for starter!” Adam chuckles, “then for main a grilled cheese doughnut.”

A what?

“It’s a doughnut cut it half, dipped it in butter with a slice of cheese between each half! It’s really bad for you but they taste amazing.”

And for dessert?

“Cheesecake!”

Despite his gorging food antics, Adam has the physique of Adonis, a qualified personal trainer, and manages this by eating clean when he’s not competing.

“On a normal day I eat less than 2,000 calories. I eat a lot vegetables, fruit and lean meat. I keep it simple. Also, I go to the gym for a couple of hours a day. I do a lot of heavy weightlifting and exercise with a lot of intensity.”

Whatever he’s doing it’s evidently working but what’s next for Beard Meats Food?

“I won the Yorkshire Pudding Eating World Championship twice in a row! He beams proudly”

“At the end of April I’m doing the World Burger Eating Championships in North Carolina. It’s usually a question of getting out to America as Britain only has a couple of contests. In America, the prize money is generally around $3,000. There’s one, Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest pays $20,000!”

No wonder he could quit his banking job! Although, it’s a more local challenge that he’s most proud of winning.

“I won the Yorkshire Pudding Eating World Championship twice in a row! It’s a three minute contest and I ended up eating 43!” He beams proudly.

And now the most important question, just how much maintenance does that beard require?

“Not much! I see my barber every two weeks and he keeps it in shape. I don’t let him take too much off. If I shaved this it would take two years to get it back!”

And would he? Ever shave his beard? “Not for a million pounds!” Well, I don’t suppose Clean ShavenMeatsFood has quite the same ring does it? Now, is it lunch time yet? I’m suddenly really hungry…

Want to find out how he manages to stay in shape?

https://youtu.be/2CWt2-dGi54