I’m not sure how it came up, but in the course of a watermelon discussion I casually mentioned to my co-worker that I could eat a whole watermelon. This was immediately met with a hearty round of guffaws and cries of “Bull!” But I believe this was no idle boast. This isn’t some Cool Hand Luke 50 eggs deal, it’s just a watermelon. It’s all water, right? I know it’s a little more sugar than I should consume in one sitting, but other than health reasons, I can’t figure out why she thinks I couldn’t handle it.
It looks like this could actually happen, so before I talk too much smack, I figured I’d ask the masses if my mouth was writing checks my ass couldn’t cash. I’m a pretty big guy (6’, 185lbs) with a hearty appetite, the watermelon can’t be seedless and has to be found at a typical grocery store (no blue-ribbon prize winners). I get one hour. I can’t lose, right?
Hold up a watermelon
Look at your tummy
I don’t want to be there when it happens…but good luck.
Or better yet, challenge lno to it…he loves this stuff.
If you do go through with this, you’ll be going to the bathroom a LOT afterwards! Just giving you a heads-up. 
jarbabyj cool idea! Spider and lno in a watermelon eat off.
Of course, since lno has been known to polish off a ton of White Kastle (aka Krystal, in the good ol’ southern USofA) gut bombers, my money is on him right now.
#1 or #2?
Or a happy mix of both?
Watermelon is about 93% water. But I was surprised to find that it actually has less water content than things like lettuce, cucumbers and celery. Cite
Anyway, I never found watermelon to be very filling - I could always put away mass quantities. It might not be as easy as you think, but if you started out slightly dehydrated I think you could probably do it.
Regardless of how much of it is water, it still has to FIT INSIDE YOUR STOMACH. I don’t know where you live, but in my neck of the woods, watermelons are about 10 pounds. And when you say “whole watermelon” are you eating the rinds as well?
Put me on the side of ‘can’t do it’, but I don’t want to squelch your dreams.
Just try to not imagine what will happen to you the next day.
Let’s just say it will be very loose…
Jarbabyj, there will be no rinds involved. I should mention that to my co-workers though, thanks.
As far as fitting it in, I’m sure I could drink a watermelon filled with water in an hour, why can’t I eat it?
This is not psyching me up for the challenge. I need more positive reinforcement. You think the Wright brothers just happened to try to fly? It was probably a bar bet and their friends egged them on. I need more egging on!
Jarbabyj, how long does water, or in this case, fruit juice, take to pass out of the stomach and into the small intestine? I honestly don’t know, but I think that some of it will pass through fairly quickly.
I want to amend my answer. I think it all depends on whether there’s a time limit. If they give you two minutes - no way. If they give you half an hour - hmm, might depend on the size of the melon. If they give you an hour or more (or don’t specify a limit) - then I think you could do it.
I also agree with Reeder. Buy some magazines.
talk to DynoSaur about the liquid capacity of the stomach.
Hey! Go ahead! If there’s no rinds I bet you COULD do it, I just don’t want you to be crestfallen when you don’t.
Jarbabyj - realist
This is gonna be easy. Try to get your friends to put money on it before you start. Tell them you can do it in 30 minutes. You can do it, I promise.
I once dared this guy to drink a whole 2 liter bottle of soda in an hour. He got through half in about 10 mins and I thought he might actually do it in time. Eventually though, his progress just slowed and slowed until he had about a quarter left. Needless to say, he never made it. I just don’t think the normal human could possibly hold that much water without a little bit of stomach stretching preparation.
I say you can do it no problem. Water passes out of the stomach pretty quick, seeing as the stomach doesn’t have to do anything to it. And within an hour? Hell, you can probablky get two in that amount of time!
Oh, and as to the capacity of stomachs…the current record holder for the most number of Nathan’s hot dogs eaten (with buns) in 12 minutes is held by Takeru Kobayashi…he ate 50. Yes, 50 hot dogs and buns in twelve minutes. The human stomach can swell up pretty big if need be. And 50 hot dogs is a LOT more food than a watermelon…and hot dogs are NOT 93% water.
It depends on how used to taking in a lot of food/water at once you are. I know I couldn’t do it, but I’ve seen people eat amazing amounts of things. And, from what I’ve seen, practice helps.
oh, and SouprChckn, we have a tradition at my dorm called Dew or Die, in which contestants drink 3oz of Mountain Dew each minute until they puke or voluntarily give up.
The winner this year made it to 50 minutes (150 oz) of Mountain Dew before giving up (all others had dropped out in the 40’s, he just wanted to set the record at 50), which is more than a gallon of Mountain Dew. Certainly some people can do it.
Well…the capacity of MY stomach is about 3 liters of Guinness (in half an hour).
I don’t think a watermelon is that big, volume-wise. I think you can do this.
When I was a little girl (age 6-8), my uncle would bring home a watermelon several times a week in the summertime. He would cut it in half and we would each grab a spoon and go to town on it. I always finished my half with no problem and I probably weighed 50-60 pounds at the time.
Try to get them to bet money. This is a lock.
You will pee like crazy for a few hours afterward.
Yep - I think you can do it no problem. The stomach will swell up immensely when it has to, and the weight involved would be no more than a big meal. Also, as said above, the water will pass through the stomach in the course of an hour (about 40mins) freeing up more room.
I’d put a quid on it!
Heh. The Straight Dope meets Jackass.
I was in a watermelon eating contest. Not a small watermelon A little larger then my head. Man I just inhaled that thing. Seeds and all. No chewing, not biting just used my front teeth to scrape a hughe chunk out and swallow. Finished that baby in about 25 or 30 seconds. So I won. What did I win? A freaking fruit basket!
TMI warning.
Then I threw up. Boy the whole thing came back up. It was like a firehose!