The most recent World’s Strongest Man contest winner, Brian Shaw, stands 6-foot-8 and weights 415 pounds. To maintain that hulking figure, which has gotten him crowned champion this year and in 2011 and 2013, the man has got to eat. A lot.

Brian Shaw deadlifts at the 2013 World’s Strongest Man competition.

In a recent Esquire profile, Shaw says he chows down on seven meals a day. Seven. When he’s gearing up for a competition, he forces himself to eat between 8,000 and 10,000 calories per day. That sounds more like a chore than something a normal human being would enjoy.

“A pretty typical meal is somewhere between 12 and 16 ounces, so almost a pound of meat,” Shaw told Esquire. “And then rice or pasta or something like that along with it. I eat a lot of grass-fed beef. That’s my main protein source. But I’ll substitute chicken and turkey, and sometimes fish, to have a little bit of variety.”

When Shaw started entering Strongest Man contests, he weighed about 300 pounds. He set a goal for himself to gain 20 pounds a year to get to his current weight. His eating habits clearly helped him get there.

Honestly, reading about Shaw makes J. J. Watt’s 6,000-calorie breakfast even more impressive.