It's more of a mental sport because I know I can push harder than someone who doesn't know what his body can do.

I love food, and not surprisingly, I often suffer from stomach upsets when I overeat in general, let alone when I'm competing.

The way I see it, I love to eat more than anybody.

I go to the doctor every four months to get my blood work done to make sure everything is working right.

Everything at a baseball game is pretty much health food if you subscribe to the theory that you're eating what makes you happy.

Kobayashi was the man. The other competitive eaters, they thought of him as unbeatable... He wasn't an eater. He was a god.

I think I get out of bed because I love to eat.

Competitive eating is something I can control. I know I can control, and if I push hard, I can win.

Winning tastes pretty good.

I'm getting paid to eat. It's not too bad of a life.

There's nothing worse than getting third.

Military caregivers play an essential role in the recovery process of our veterans and are more than deserving of our support.

Honoring our nation's heroes and their caregivers is a cause very important to me - especially on Independence Day.

I didn't just eat hot dogs. I studied how the food went into your system and how it would be digested.

I know that when I'm fitter, I breathe better. If I breathe better, I can eat more.

Traveling around the world to eat, it's a weird life, but I love it.

The most important thing in any contest is finding your rhythm and making your body work for you.

I love hot dogs.

I know I hold the contest record for downing the most hot dogs, and the record for most Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Contest championships, but it was really cool to be a part of a Guinness World Records official attempt.

I don't mind losing because it really shows me what the other eaters are capable of.

It doesn't get old. Just like running doesn't get old to people who like to run. I just love to eat.

I have to eat healthy, and I recover. I run, and I lift weights.

If there's something I like, I'm going to eat a little more of it than most people.

I do know when my body is ready or when it's going to perform best for me.

I can't tell you all my secrets to how I can eat so many. Someone out there might copy it. But I will tell you this: The night before the competition, I sleep only four hours. That means when I actually do eat, my stomach will want to digest the food quicker.

I've slowly made my body adapt and understand what's going to happen.

Honestly, I'm so competitive that sometimes I don't understand what other people are going through.

There have always been a lot of critics of competitive eating. You can be a critic of anything. It's easy to be a critic. You can say negative things about golf, the amount of water wasted on golf courses. Or NASCAR. There are wastes in everything.

I'd never eaten lobster before. I was 21. I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I was scooping guts. But I tied for third. And the two men who beat me didn't look good. One was Bob Shoudt. He seemed in pain. And I felt fine! I was 'Oh, my God, they look like they're dying. And I can eat so much more!' I knew I was made for it after that contest.

I'm more than just a competitive eater. I'm a smart guy. I could be an awesome park ranger.

I have to learn to ignore my feelings. Not just the feeling of hunger and the feeling of full, but the feeling of embarrassment, too. I have to remember that this is only weird if I make it weird.

I'm constantly writing music and keeping myself busy somehow.

'Blood Host' is super heavy. Especially on the verses, it has an industrial stomp. It's one of my favourite tracks just because the plot of it is so heavy. It's a total crushing tune; it doesn't get any heavier than that main riff, just a straight quarter-note powerhouse.

Every day is a good day above ground, and especially being able to play metal and being able to your craft and everything. You've gotta respect that, because it's something that can be taken away from you really quick.

You can't give up in life. You just can't do it, no matter what it is that is going on.

I got 'Reign In Blood' for Easter one year - how ironic is that?

I've been into 3IOB since 'Battle Cry Under a Winter's Sun.' I've wanted to work with them since.

My advice always is to start very simple and master your timing and master the most simple beats that you can, and you just keep elevating from that. Trying to go right into playing fast is not necessarily the best way to go about it, because if you don't have your foundation locked in, it's hard to progress.

I don't pay attention to critics.

I'm writing music that people can grasp and hold on to... something that resonates. If you don't have that, then you have nothing.

Modifidious was my first real band.

I've got so much material; like, it feels as if every day I'm coming up with so many riffs.

I'd been working on new Slipknot material since the end of the 'All Hope Is Gone' tour cycle, but I ended up with so much stuff, I had to take a step back and stop working on it.

I wasn't worried about flash or persona... It's all about writing a good, solid song.

I don't use a Beatmap; I don't use any click track. Any time I count off, it's just in my heart. Sometimes I'll go off the feel of a crowd, like if they way they're bouncing is a little quicker than the song, I might kick up the tempo a little bit. I see where the crowd is at. It's nothing drastic, but all the tempos are from my internal clock.

I want to get out as much art as I can while I'm here, and I seem to get better the more that I do it.

I was in band all the way through high school, and I played in jazz competitions all across Iowa.

Always try and play with as many people as possible, even if it's not your style of music, because you will learn a lot.

People lump us into the nu-metal category, and there might be a hint of that stuff, but if you really listen to a nu-metal band and then listen to Slipknot, it's so apples and oranges that it's retarded.

Any kind of idea of fame - that has been shelved.