Imagine yourself accomplishing the task and remind yourself daily that you can do it.
It helps to drink a glass of water before the challenge so your mouth and throat are hydrated. If you want to get your mouth watering naturally just think about sour candy, or anything else that may jump-start your saliva.
Your saliva is absorbed after eating two saltines separately, so when you use this strategy it is said to be easier since half of the challenge is over with in the first go. The next two crackers can be managed, knowing you’re almost finished, and the last cracker isn’t as daunting since there is only one. There is always a choking hazard with food competitions and this one isn’t any different. When stacking the crackers, gently place them wholly in your mouth and crush them between the roof of your mouth and your tongue. It’s helpful to first gum the crackers to make sure they’re covered in saliva so when you open your mouth the chew there aren’t stray crumbs which can fly into your throat and cause you to choke or cough.
This strategy may work for people who can’t fit three crackers in their mouth at once but still want to get it over with faster than one by one. Again, the advantage here is that you can crush more crackers at a time with the same amount of saliva. There is less of a choking hazard by placing only two crackers each time, but the gumming technique still applies. This strategy may feel less effective than the 3,2,1 strategy when you have the last two crackers staring you down and your mouth is already dried up from the first two sets.
You’ll have a minute to chew and swallow but the foundation to completing the challenge in time is finding a way to place them in your mouth that works best for you. Avoid breathing with your mouth. You’re not really safe from the cracker crumbs until you can close your mouth around the crackers and gum away so breathing through your nose is a better option. This strategy can be skipped when practicing if you feel like the others will suite you better. This should only be done with water on hand in case things don’t go so well and all those crumbs dry you out and leave you coughing up your crackers.
Watch more videos of people completing the challenge. How much time is given to chewing/gumming? How long is it taking others to finish two crackers at a time? One? Three? All six? Take notes on what techniques you believe are most effective.
