Sonya Thomas at Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Bobby Bank/WireImage.com
SONYA THOMAS is petite and lithe, but her stomach can hold 18 pounds of food. Currently ranked sixth-best eater in the world, Thomas will compete this July 4th in Nathan's International Hot Dog Eating Contest, the Super Bowl of stuffing oneself, where she'll try to beat her personal best and down 40 dogs and buns in 12 minutes. We had a few questions for the binge queen:
MC: How did you get your start in competitive eating?
ST: I always knew I could eat more than most people. Then I saw the Nathan's contest on ESPN, and I found out that to compete, you have to win a qualifying contest. I won in New Jersey and went to Nathan's later that year.
MC: How do you prepare?
ST: I don't eat breakfast or lunch, but I eat the same dinner every night: fries, chicken fingers, and a grilled chicken sandwich. The day before a competition, I'll have a salad.
MC: You're not a cheap date.
ST: I may have eaten 522 oysters in a sitting, but I don't need to eat that much all the time! Still, the best place for a date to take me would be an all-you-can-eat buffet. If we went to a French restaurant, it could cost hundreds of dollars before I was finally full.
MC: So where does it all go?
ST: I don't know. Most people think that 300-pound guys can eat the most food, but more often it's skinny people.
MC: What's your day job?
ST: Manager of a Burger King.