Checking in from  Napa Valley for 2 minutes before going to bed… got up early this morning at the crack of dawn (4 am) to hit the gym, luckily I found a decent gym about a 15 min walk from the hotel that has everything I need. I was tired as hell all day because I don’t get to sleep until around 10:30-11pm after a day that starts at 7:30am with non stop lectures.

Folks, it is IMPOSSIBLE to stay on the Fighter Diet in the Napa Valley, let me just tell you right now! More importantly, I don’t feel I should be that strict even though my competition is coming up, because to me, this is my lively hood and I cannot waste time and money coming here and NOT taste. This is what I do for a living!! Very hard to combine. Nevertheless, I’m only eating one or two bites of everything (staying away from dessert obviously) and having one or two sips of each wine, spitting out most of it.  This means I am going hungry ALL day because I am not getting full, but still feeling “fat” because I know the food is not prepared according to my diet. But I have to taste, it’s simply too fantastic of an experience not to. I have first hand access to some of the top winemakers in the region, and the best restaurants. This is what I love. I love being fit too, which is why I drag my ass out of bed in the middle of the night to go to the gym. I am just praying that I can survive the last three days, and go HARD CORE the next two weeks and still be in the same shape I was before I left. I will definitely make the best effort I can. This trip is also an eye opener in many ways because I realize that I have two passions: food /wine AND fitness.  I still believe you can combine these two and I’m going to find a way to make delicious food that gets you ripped, and still be able to indulge in a glass of wine or two here and there. I’m not talking about contest prep for obvious reasons – here you have to be more serious and strict. I will have to just take a chance that these four days are not going to be the end all to my results when I get on that stage on September 11th. I will go all out at the gym and try to be as good as I can.

This region is gorgeous, the people are friendly and the atmosphere is magical. I feel lucky that I can be a part of this group this week, and that I can be diverse enough to straddle two worlds. I don’t want to be a person who only talks of one subject over and over again and misses out on life with its opportunities and possibilities. I want to be someone who is serious about everything I do, and being multi faceted can only make me more interesting. I welcome this challenging week and refuse to give up on my goal of doing well on my show even though I choose to participate in this gourmet feast!!