Zach Woolever, right in yellow shirt, and his fraternity brother Harrison Bowden, left, pose next to ‘Man v. Food’ host Adam Richman, center. Friends of the pair are in the back row. Photo courtesy of Zach Woolever

Ever since season one of Man v. Food on the Travel Channel, I have been fascinated with the show. Watching the host, Adam Richman, swallow mountains of food made me want a chance at competing on the show, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had this unlikely aspiration. Now, here is where it gets cool: I actually got to star on an episode of Man v. Food Nation, an offshoot of the original show that invites locals to take on hometown food challenges. So to cure your curiosity, I have the untold story of my experiences behind the scenes of Man v. Food Nation: Green Bay

How I got picked
No, I didn’t pig out on a monster bowl of spaghetti to earn a spot in a Hollywood round of the contestant selection. In reality, I was told about the opportunity to be in an upcoming episode, so I uploaded an audition video to YouTube explaining why I wanted to be on the show along with one of my fraternity brothers. The producers loved us and offered us spots in the upcoming NFL episode. They also told us we were going to be taking down a legendary beast called “The Gravedigger Burger” and that we had just one week until the challenge.

Preparation
As soon as I discovered that I would be putting down a sandwich boasting a six-pound patty, I knew I had to speed train to handle the feat eat. A quick Google search gave me the idea of cabbage loading to expand my stomach. It turns out cabbage is one of worst edible items that mother nature produces, and I would not force my worst enemy to eat it. So instead I went with Plan B. My new training regimen was to eat an enormous sandwich and drink a gallon of water every night leading up to the challenge. But where my partner and I went wrong was when we made the decision not to eat the morning of the challenge.

Filming
The show wasn’t live, so that sense of pressure was off us. However, we had over 100 fans cheering us on along with the company of Packer legends Gilbert Brown and Antonio Freeman. The host, Adam Richman, gave us a pep talk, and we headed empty-stomached into a 15,000-calorie burger. The bun of the burger was certainly overwhelming and it took nearly a pint of hot sauce to get my mouth to salivate by the end of the hour. In the end, we didn’t finish the burger. We ended the hour-long contest, undeserving of the title belt and with extreme heartburn as a battle scar.

The aftermath
After the challenge, I went into my first-ever literal food coma. The absurd amount of bun left me feeling as if all the water in my body had been soaked up and an overinflated basketball was lodged in my abdomen from all the beef. Despite failing to triumph over the famous burger, Adam Richman and Gilbert Brown told us how impressive our attempt really was. The black angus beef did get the best of me though, and I fell asleep hours later for a nearly 15 hour “nap.”

The experience was amazing despite the failure to triumph over food. I got a free meal that satisfied me for days. What more could a college student ask for? I’d certainly star on the Travel Channel again, and I’m going to keep bugging them to give me my own food show in the meantime.

You might also be interested in:

1. Students challenge campuses to ditch junk food
2. Managing a food allergy in college – expert advice
3. Balance your love of food with a lack of cash
4. Small Kitchen College: Finding an internship in the food industry
5. Trash talk: EPA Game Day Challenge is a great reason to go green