Catherine Hanson Farid

ABOUT ME

I was born in England and immigrated to Australia when I was a child. In total I spent 10 years living there and as I still have family in Oz I do try to visit often. My home is Dubai, UAE and I have lived here for almost 17 years!

Health and Fitness has always been a passion of mine. I was dancing from the age of 4; trained in ballet, jazz and tap dancing and grew up to become a Professional Dancer travelling around the World from my late teens to early 20’s. I was one of those typical Dancers who progressed into the world of fitness and became a group fitness instructor and Personal Trainer.

The first time I thought about competing was when I was in my early 20’s. At that time I  did choreograph a routine for one of the members at my gym who was competing, but I didn’t feel ready nor did I have the discipline to diet and compete myself…. It was always a dream though and I was a huge fan of Rachel Mclish and Cory Everson.

Unfortunately it took almost another 20 years, as I was approaching 40, to finally decide it was my time to compete. My mind set was it was now or never…I certainly don’t  want to have any regrets in life so decided to go for it…and am so glad I did

Living in Dubai, UAE did not make it easy as there were no women competing here so no-one to help me with preparation or diet or even a competition to go and see. With a lot of determination, perseverance and a little guidance from a best friend of mine, I managed to get my body where it needed to be.

My first competition was actually a World Comp: The INBA Natural Olympia in Las Vegas in 2005. I didn’t place in that competition but I realized it was more due to the fact that I was not up to par on the posing….

I actually felt like a fish out of water which was unusual for me as I love the stage but I just didn’t have any guidance on posing….and it showed!!

I went back the next year to the INBA Natural Olympia in Perth, Australia in 2006 and was thrilled to place 3rd in my height class. It was a big line up with some impressive bodies!

At the 2007 INBA Natural Olympia in Greece, I placed 2nd in my height class and 1st in Masters.

2009, I competed with INBF at the Universe in Barbados and placed 2nd in Figure and 4th in Fit Body.

My final and biggest achievement was competing in the Arnold Amateur Figure in Ohio, USA in 2010. I was silly not to have competed in the Masters division as I was up against some amazing girls half my age.  Needless to say I did not place, but the experience was truly amazing.  To compete at either the Arnold or Olympia was a lifelong dream….and I am happy to say I can now tick that box!

I learnt a lot in the 5 years of competing, met some great fellow competitors and loved the experience, but after the Arnold and at 45 I decided that would be my last competition.
If I had been at least 10 years younger maybe I would have continued but for me 45 was the right age to retire.

Although I am not competing anymore, I still workout religiously as I believe to maintain a sexy toned body, lifting weights is essential and I am not ready to give that up!

My focus now is on health and nutrition, aging well and helping others to do the same. I am a huge advocate of eating organic foods and eating as close to a hunter gatherer diet as possible. I don’t touch anything with artificial sweeteners and stay away from processed foods.  I am passionate about educating my personal training clients, friends and family on the importance of feeding our body with good nutrition along with lots of exercise. We should all be fueling our bodies to run like a Ferrari not a Ford!

I am now on a different journey …forget Fabulous and Forty, my plan is to be Fantastic at 50, still Sexy at Sixty and Super at Seventy, Eighty and Ninety!

I am working on a few projects right now here in Dubai, one of which is to get a figure competition here for women. We have a lot of fit women in awesome shape and I would like them to be able to have the experience I have had. So although I have hung up my killer heels, I still want to be involved in the Sport and cheer on the next generation of competitors!

Contact details: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it