Bodybuilder Chris Ruden Reveals How He Overcomes Disability and Diabetes to Gain 'The Upper Hand'

Chris Ruden is aiming to change what people think of disabilities and help others "turn adversity into advantage"

Chris Ruden was born with a congenital birth defect that caused him to have only two fingers on his left hand and a shorter left arm. For a long time, Ruden struggled with how others perceived him, often feeling uncomfortable when people looked his way.

"I was constantly looked at like I was different, because I am different," Ruden, 30, tells PEOPLE (the TV Show!) in Monday's episode. "I really had to go through that whole phase of... seeing people stare and wonder and just treat me kind of like a circus animal at times."

"That's how I felt when I was growing up," he adds. "So it was definitely tough knowing I had a physical difference and watching everyone react around me."

But at 19, Ruden's perspective began to shift when he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

The condition causes fatigue and weakness, among other symptoms, and can lead to heart, kidney and eye disease, according to Mayo Clinic.

"Up until that point, like from 16 to 19, I fell into some bad stuff. Trying to use substances, alcohol, things like that to distance myself from the reality that I hated looking at myself in the mirror," says Ruden. "I hated seeing how different I was. I hated that my entire life revolved around turning certain ways, or sitting on certain sides, or acting certain ways to hide my disability."

Chris Ruden
Chris Ruden/Instagram

"I wanted to be a carbon copy of everyone else so bad that I refused to ever acknowledge who I could be myself and that my disability was okay," he continues.

But what the diagnosis ultimately did for Ruden was offer a moment of clarity and inspiration to embrace his body and self-image like never before.

"When I got diagnosed with diabetes, that was like a catalyst for me to start helping other people, but still kind of continue to hide myself," he says. "Because laying in the hospital, I was like, 'I don't want to be this disabled, diabetic, broken kid anymore. I want to do something. I want to help other people. I want to take this and make something of it. And maybe I can do something.'"

Today, Ruden is a popular powerlifter and bodybuilder, having amassed an audience of more than 67,000 followers on Instagram, where he offers inspirational messages and fitness updates. He also shares his journey with mental health, something he says is "a constant work in progress."

Ruden also appeared in season 1 of The Titan Games on NBC in 2019, and recently released a book, The Upper Hand.

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The book, Ruden says, is another way he can help others deal with adversity and develop a positive mindset to make the most out of their lives.

"Really getting the upper hand over yourself is the key, and it's the only thing we can control. We can't control things on the outside. I can't control that I have a disability," he says. "But what I can control is the way I talk to myself the way I think and the way I act from that."

"It's all about leveraging limitations to turn adversity into advantage and getting the upper hand over yourself so that nothing that life throws at you will be unmanageable," Ruden adds. "This is a very easy read to understand and reframe your perspective so that you just kind of bulletproof your perspective."

Catch People (the TV show!) Monday through Friday. Check your local listings for exact times or stream the show every day at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT at People.com and PeopleTV.com.

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