Colleen Castaneda

My first experience seeing Colleen on stage was at the 2007 IFPA Yorton Cup. She made quite a statement that day coming in 2nd out of 11 fantastic Pro Figure competitors. There were many impressed people in the crowd that day, and deservedly so.... Colleen's conditioning and physique were spot on that day.

Colleen lives in Austin, Texas. She'll be 39 years old this year, and competes at a body weight of between 105 - 108 lbs.

The highlights of her competition career to this point.... Having earned her NGA and WNBP Pro Cards, and also finally looking and feeling comfortable and confident on stage.

Her advice to other competitors... "Train with passion, consistency and integrity. Make decisions based on your beliefs and values, and don't compromise yourself for fame and money".

Colleen most admires honesty in herself and others. Not a bad trait to admire!

She's a pleasure to correspond with, and seems truly genuine and passionate about training, competition, and life.

Besides being a top Figure competitor, she's also excelled intellectually, having graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BS Microbiology degree.

Colleen is a 100% natural competitor, holds Pro Figure cards in the IFPA, NGA and USBF. She's a former WNBF Pro Figure competitor, and a future Fame Pro competitor.

She's also an AFAA certified personal fitness trainer.

Colleen's philosophy in life is to live in balance. "Balance in almost everything and anything that you do...exercise, nutrition, friendships, family, education, money, spirit and in mind.
A rather simple philosophy but can be difficult for most people including me at times".

Personally, I really like Colleen. Before the 2007 Yorton cup, there was a thread that appeared on the old OCB message board (now the Natural Physique Forum). It was an innocent thread where some of the figure competitors were predicting who they felt would be in the top 5 at the show. Colleen wasn't considered top 5 by many of her fellow figure competitors. I think she felt a bit slighted, but only commented not to count her out. She wasn't arrogant, and didn't make any predictions. What she did do... was to show everyone at the Yorton Cup that she was not only top 5, but an elite competitor. She believed in herself and proved allot of people wrong. She handled herself with poise and class, and in my opinion, made the IFPA a better organization that day!

Colleen's future competition plans include the FAME Worlds in June.

She has a great future ahead of her. She has my respect and admiration, and my thanks for joining our community and sharing herself with us.