Here’s some food for thought: If you could be your own boss, travel the world, become a celebrity of sorts and the only work you’d be required to do is eat and work out, would you do it?

Whets the appetite, doesn’t it?

OK, it’s not quite that elementary, but that’s essentially what Milwaukee resident Randy Santel does for a living. He defines his work as a professional eater and influencer. And many people are fascinated. Among all his social media platforms, he has nearly 5 million followers.

“I’ve always been able to eat,” said Santel. “Like back when I was 16, my first job, I was a sandwich artist with Subway. I used to eat three double-meat foot longs, loaded with vegetables, like every five-hour period that I would work.

“Eating is kind of like bench press or squat, where there’s some people that are just genetically going to be better.”

The original dream for this former offensive lineman at Missouri State University was a career in construction management.

“Pretty early on, I realized that I really didn’t enjoy it too much,” he said.

As he looked for an off-ramp, he also wanted to lose weight, as he tipped the scales at over 300 pounds most of his football career. With a friend’s help, he entered a body transformation challenge and won.

To celebrate, they entered a pizza eating contest. Santel’s cousin brought along a camcorder, filmed it and edited it. Family and friends loved it. And in one afternoon, Randy Santel found his off-ramp.

Santel’s specialty is food challenges, where to win you must consume a certain amount of food in a designated time.

During his 13-year run, he has put down 10 pounds of prime rib, a nine-pound burrito and five pounds of cereal with three-quarters of a gallon of milk all in one sitting. He has won over 1,100 food challenges, taking place in all 50 states and 37 countries worldwide. He also has six, 45-gallon tubs full of t-shirts and his picture in restaurants the world over.

It’s a lot on all fronts. And research suggests professional eaters face potential health issues. Often, Santel is asked if this is a good idea.

“I’ve always had people worried about my health,” he said. “And I obviously get more comments about my health, and people worried about me, when my weight is bigger. Like at one point, I got to 395 pounds doing these, but then I lost 108 pounds."

“But no, I checked into everything, like my family history. I’m one of those people that never really gets sick. So, my health has always been good, and I’ve always had a strong stomach, too.”

In his early days, Santel said it was not uncommon for him to do “two-a-days.” And those had nothing to do with football.

“Nowadays we’re trying to schedule a day between each event,” Santel said of he and his girlfriend, Katina DeJarnett, also a professional eater. “And we’re trying to focus on bigger, higher-quality challenges to get more views to our channels.”

While net worth websites are a mixed bag in terms of accuracy, a cursory look shows Santel’s social media channels have enabled him to earn an income well into the six figures.

Still, he loves to take on challenges that may not fit that aim. A cook at Bean City Bar & Grill in New London saw Santel on YouTube, mentioned it to his boss, who found out Santel was going doing another challenge in the area.

Tyler Gloudemans, manager at Bean City, reached out to Santel.

“I said, ‘We have a six-pound burger challenge that no one’s ever finished, if you want to try to be the first,’” Gloudemans said. “And he instantly jumped on.”

Santel had 30 minutes to finish it, and he did in 17:29 before a packed house.

“It was unreal to watch,” Gloudemans said. “It was almost like a band was playing. Everybody was so focused on what was happening. Everybody kind of stopped what they were doing and just had to watch. “And then, yeah, everybody was cheering him on. It was almost like a performance.”

Santel, 36, figures he can continue to do this for a couple of more years. But all of this has been for a bigger goal. He is attending Mount Mary University, where he will complete his master’s degree and internship to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN).

“Once I actually become a dietitian, I’ll be the No. 1 followed dietitian in the world,” said Santel. “So, I’ll have a book coming out. I’ll start doing public speaking and use my channels to distribute education and help people better understand nutrition and weight management. I won’t need to be sponsored and I won’t need to take people’s money to promote their products because I’ll already be self-sustainable just from the from all the monetization I have on all the different platforms I’m on."

“That’s why I do all this. I’m doing all the food challenges to gain as much following as I can. So, I want to be relatable, and I want to be helping people in all countries. I’m trying to get to all the countries I can. Just want to start out relatable and reachable, to win before I begin. That’s the big slogan that we always use. Yeah, that’s what all of this is centered around.”

It’s a unique transition. But in the future, intellectual nourishment will be Randy Santel’s comfort food.​