It was a hard decision to give up a normal job. I worked hard to get through school. You go from building a fire station to an eating contest.

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.

Winning tastes pretty good.

Maybe in America there's more of an emphasis on food than there should be. But when I look out at the audience during a competition, some people are shocked, but most people are smiling.

From a pretty early age, I developed an interest in travel. I told my parents I wanted to live abroad, and they said, 'Well, you have to have money to do those things.'

I love to run, but training can be hard, especially with a family and a crazy travel schedule. I often do sprints with my kids, where they bike and I run along side them so we can 'race' each other for a quarter-mile or shorter repeats.

Modeling is an incredible job for a girl if she approaches it with her head on her shoulders. You travel, you speak to people, and it opens your mind to different things.

I travel a lot, but I don't come away with new inspiration.