A Well-Nourished Life

14/08/2024

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I help women heal their autoimmune illnesses once and for all and THRIVE. Author & Integrative Health Practitioner. Creator of YOU CAN HEAL, the self-paced, comprehensive, online program for autoimmune healing.

17/07/2021

Ok babe, please know that I’m saying this with so much love, AND coming from a place of “been there done that”…

You can NOT heal in the same environment that made you sick.

So take stock. Check yourself. It’s time to make some changes.

If you are like so many of my clients, if you are like I was, you give A LOT to others and you give the leftover crumbs (if any) to yourself.

Do you always put others first? Do you giveaway your time and energy to people, places and things without consideration of how it impacts you?

Come on, be honest. Do you? I sure did. I was a people pleaser extraordinaire. How about you?

That has to change. Give yourself the same attention, love and nurturing that you would give to your best friend, spouse or child.

This is how you start to truly heal. Go ahead, be a little selfish. You deserve more, so give it to yourself.

Big hugs and so much love, you got this! 🤗💕✨

01/07/2021

Hey, hi!!!
I’m celebrating 10 YEARS symptom-free with RA!! 🎉 Whoop-whoop 🎉

Yesterday I realized that it’s my 10th anniversary of living symptom-free with my “incurable disease”. And I gotta say, I was surprised when the calendar alert popped up.

Back in the early days of my healing I counted every day, week and month that I was living without pain, swelling, fatigue, depression and fear. I secretly thought I’d better keep track because at some point it would end and I’d want to know how long I had managed to beat it before it took me down again.

But after a few years I stopped. Sure, I realized that every March it was the anniversary of my diagnosis and every summer was the anniversary of my healing. But I stopped celebrating every June 30th as a special marker of my success and my freedom.

Until yesterday, when my alert popped up and I sat there staring at my phone with my mouth wide open. It really sunk in. 10 YEARS! 10 freaking years without the relentless pain, without the limitations, without the overwhelming fear and hopelessness!

I f*cking did it. There were so many who doubted me, and early on I’ll admit, I had my doubts myself. But that tiny voice inside me kept me going, it kept cheering me on, it showed me my future and I chose to believe it was possible and I chose to follow that hope.

I’ve enjoyed 10 years of freedom from this dis-ease of rheumatoid arthritis. Wow!

And let me tell you, it wasn’t easy and it’s not easy, it continues to be a journey and a process and every day I work my program to maintain this freedom.

I didn’t magically “get well” or fall into some mysterious “remission”. I worked really hard to heal by body. And every day I get up and do all things to stay well. And it’s worth it.

So hey, hi there, I’m Cat, and I’m living, no I’m THRIVING with an incurable disease. How are you today?

Whatever your challenge, don’t give up, you CAN do amazing things. You are powerful beyond your imagination, and you CAN heal and thrive.

Oh yeah, and to celebrate, I’m putting all my offerings on sale 30% to 50% off for a limited time, including RA THRIVE.
https://catherineruehle.com/ra-thrive-program

Big love babes 🤗💕✨

23/06/2021

This is a quote from a newspaper feature on me and my business a few years ago.

I was asked how I handle skeptics, those who are curious about working with me or trying my programs, but they aren’t sure they believe it can work for them.

I told the writer that I know it’s hard to make the leap and the truth is you don’t have to believe that food & lifestyle can replace your medication. Simply allowing for food and lifestyle measures to complement current treatment is enough.

Honestly, when I started down my healing path years ago, my big hope and goal was to use diet and lifestyle to MINIMIZE my medications, not to replace them all together. I never knew that would be possible. I had no experience to show me that it would be possible.

But I knew that my path would include food and lifestyle measures to support my body and it’s healing from rheumatoid arthritis. I knew this from the beginning, in my heart and soul. Don’t ask me how I knew, I just knew. And if you know you know. You know?

It wasn’t until I got well into my process and saw the transformation taking place in my body and my mind, that I realized I would be able to live medication-free.

We all have different heating paths and journeys. Some of my clients are able to get off medications all together and some reduce their dosages or number of meds. These are all good things!

Whether you believe food and lifestyle can replace medication or not, there is no denying that these measures have a profound & positive impact on the whole body with zero negative side effects. I mean, who wouldn’t want that?

Big love, my friends 💕✨🤗

07/06/2021

✨ YOUR BODY HAS NOT BETRAYED YOU ✨

I know it can feel that way sometimes. I’ve been there.

When I first developed rheumatoid Arthritis 11 years ago I felt broken. I was angry at my body for betraying me.

And I hear this a lot from my clients too.

I think initially it’s a normal reaction to a diagnosis, to a feeling that your body has become a foreign place.

But I’ve come to learn that it simply isn’t true. You are not broken. Your body has NOT betrayed you.

Your body HAS adapted to the conditions it has been given. And those conditions can be changed.

There is power in knowing this fact. Never doubt it. Never believe for one moment that you cannot change the conditions. You CAN heal.

And here’s something else that’s important to keep in mind when you are healing… Your body is always FOR you, not against you. Your body wants the BEST for you.

Your body wants to heal and THRIVE, to dance and climb mountains. It wants to feel light, energetic, and strong. It wants to carry you through this life to fulfill your purpose and to SHINE your light.

Never doubt it. ✨💕🤗

Can you relate? Have you ever felt like your body has let you down?

04/06/2021

Hi friends 👋🏻 We have a lot of new faces (welcome!) so I thought I’d share a bit about myself and why I’m here on the Gram.

11 years ago I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. At that time I couldn’t hold a coffee mug or manage the stairs to put my son to bed. I couldn’t bend my elbows enough to wash my hair. The pain was overwhelming.

I was at the top of my career, regularly appearing on Food Network & courting multiple book and TV opportunities. My world came crashing down.

I was told I’d have to take nasty toxic meds for life, that those meds would make me sick & that I’d still have flare ups now & then. I was told that the meds could cause blindness, stroke, heart disease, cancer (and more). I was told RA was incurable, that the joint damage was progressive, and that it could be fatal. I was told by my doc that diet had nothing to do with RA. My intuitive knowing called BS on that one.

Now 11 years later, I’ve said no to meds, I have no symptoms, & have had no flares. Food & lifestyle are my medicines. I work hard at my wellness & sometimes I fall short, I not perfect with this or anything else.

But I’m feeling pretty good for 52 years old. Better than I felt in my 30’s. I don’t look my age, so I’m told 😉 and I definitely credit my RA diet & lifestyle for that too.

I’m telling you about this not to brag but because sometimes I have to remind myself how far I’ve come. And because I want you sweet friends to know that whatever you’re facing right now, you can beat it.

Trust yourself, question the conventional wisdom, & never doubt that you can, & will, get through it.

Health & wellness is not a one-size-fits-all proposition, listen to your intuition. Question the experts. Try new things. And never, ever give up!

I’m here on IG sharing in the hope that someone here can be helped, inspired, even healed by my experience & my work. When I was deep in the pain & fear & hopelessness, I would have given anything for someone or something to help. I hope to be that help for others. 💕

How do you heal? How do you handle health challenges? Please share, I’d love to know, & your experience just might help someone else here.

Big love to you all! ✨🤗💕

02/06/2021

I sent a message out to my program participants today, a sweet and simple reminder about the healing process they are undertaking.

✨“THE NEXT VERSION OF YOU WILL ALWAYS DEMAND MORE THAN YOUR PAST SELF. GIVE IT TO HER, SHE’S WORTH IT.”✨

I don’t remember where I first saw this quote (if you know the origin lmk and I’ll tag) but it REALLY stuck with me.

You’re worth it. I’m worth it.

Healing a chronic health condition really is about becoming the next version of you. It’s about shedding the old, infusing the new, it requires new behaviors and habits. It takes effort, and it’s not easy. But it’s worth it.

At some point in the process you feel the energy of the new you take over, it rushes in to say “I’m here, baby!” You start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, you feel a weight lifted. It’s a beautiful feeling, the becoming. 💕

In week 1 of RA THRIVE, I guide participants through the process of developing a Future Self Meditation, and it becomes part of their daily practice. They form a connection with the next version of themselves before she has even arrived.

This is powerful stuff, focusing your attention on the future version of you. How you’ll look, feel, behave. How you will move through your day.

I didn’t have the future self practice when I started healing from rheumatoid arthritis but I added it along the way and it has been deeply impactful.

The first step in changing your health/life/relationship… is believing a better version is possible. Not just believing, but seeing it, feeling it, connecting with it daily.

And for what it’s worth, it’s NEVER too late. You’re never too old, too sick, too lost, too unhappy… just see it, connect with it, and become it. You’re worth it, babe. ✨💕

Do you want to heal from a chronic inflammatory condition like RA? I can help, check out my program RA THRIVE 🤗
https://catherineruehle.com/ra-thrive-program

12/04/2021

Things you can do to control your autoimmune disease without meds 🌟

09/04/2021

✨WE NEED TO REDEFINE SELFISH✨

I so often find that the women I work with who have autoimmune challenges are very type A and/or very self-sacrificing. Myself included.

They (we) have been conditioned to believe that our success & our worth come from how much we DO & how much we GIVE. And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with being a doer & a giver, when we give so much that we become depleted, we risk our physical, mental and spiritual health.

Dis-ease is, in fact, often tied to a dis-connection from Self. When you pour so much from your cup that there’s nothing left over for yourself, you inevitably disconnect. You become so attached to, and invested in, the opinions, feelings and approval of others that you lose connection to your own opinions, feelings and approval.

So how about we flip that nonsense around & focus on how much we ARE? Let’s focus on BE-ing more than DO-ing, and let’s GIVE to ourselves first.

How about we become our best selves FOR OURSELVES. Not only because that allows us to also give our best to others, but because we damn well deserve it for ourselves.

How about we normalize selfishness, or even better, let’s redefine that word all together. SELF-first, SELF-care, SELF-love, SELF-everything. 💕

Because here’s the thing I’ve come to understand so very deeply in this past year. You didn’t come here to just be depleted for the sake of others. You’re here to be YOU in the fullest, most beautiful way. To grow and change and evolve and shine your light any way you please. ✨

So when you’re writing out your next to-do list, make sure YOU are at the top of that list, babe. And maybe let’s just rename it to a “To-BE” list, ok?

So how do you do YOU? Share so we can all be inspired by your YOU-ness. I’ll go first. I’m a nature nerd and a spirit ju**ie so every morning I meditate with my crystals (explains the vid 🤣), I also put “watch birds” on my Body & Soul Wellness Checklist to remind myself to stop working and look out the window at the natural beauty. 💫

So watcha got for us, how do you do YOU? ✨💕🦄

16/03/2021

🌟EEEK! MY NEW BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER!🌟

I’ve been deep in creation mode, working on content that answers the most common questions I get about healing RA and Autoimmune conditions with diet.

“Cat, is ______ ok to eat?”

“Do I need to avoid ______?”

“Do you eat _____?”

“Why are nightshades a problem?”

“What the heck IS a nightshade?!?”

Literally on the daily I receive DMs and emails just like these. Now all the answers about foods are in one place. Well, TWO places! In my TWO new ebooks that are releasing next week and are currently available at a pre-order discount.

WHAT NOT TO EAT FOR RA
This ebook is the quick start guide you need to begin eliminating food triggers today. This clear, concise guide lists the most common trigger foods you need to avoid while healing. You’ll have all the answers you need to start healing today!

THE BEST FOODS FOR RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS & OTHER AUTOIMMUNE CONDITIONS
My go-to list of top foods to help your body heal. Science-backed and personally tested foods to add to your daily diet to give your body the materials it needs to calm inflammation and HEAL! Recipes are included for each food.

I’ll be answering even MORE of your healing questions in upcoming books on lifestyle aspects. AND I’ll also be dedicating a quick start guide to the exact Elimination-Challenge Protocol I use for myself and my private clients to determine which trigger foods need to removed for good and which are just a temporary part of the healing phase.

You can link to the books through my bio or my stories today. Share with your friends and save this post for future reference. And as always, if you have questions just pop them below in the comments!

So much love and healing to you all! ✨💕🦄

05/03/2021

FIVE UNEXPECTED LESSONS MY RA HAS TAUGHT ME

1. Healing is a journey, not a destination, and the route has many twists and turns. Be flexible and open-minded. And bring snacks.

2. The importance of a positive mindset can not be overstated. Never give in to the negative spiral. Catch that s**t before it gets you. And if it gets you, see number 4.

3. Some people will want you to fail in order to validate their own lack of trying/failures. Bless them and block them. (Can’t even tell you how many times people have poo-pooed my efforts to heal without toxic meds. )

4. The bad days will happen.m, it’s unavoidable. Reminder: when going through hell, don’t stop, KEEP GOING!

5. You can’t start to heal until you let go of the denial, anger, and self-pity. In fact, to fast-track the healing you must not only accept it, but fall in love with the challenge, own it. Then show it who’s boss and KICK IT’S ASS.

Can you relate? Drop a comment and share the lessons you’ve learned from your health challenges. 😘

Much love, and happy FRIDAY! 💖✨🦄

03/03/2021

10 years ago I was diagnosed with an incurable disease.

Sometimes when I look in the mirror I’m stunned by how far I’ve come. It was 10 years ago this month that I heard those words, “… it’s Rheumatoid Arthritis”.

The doc told me about the meds I would take for the rest of my life, the side effects, the limitations. When I asked about diet & lifestyle measures, she said “diet has nothing to do with RA”. She handed me my prescriptions & left the room.

At the time I was a bakery owner, cake designer, mother to a 10 year old, & wife. I was at the top of my professional game, highly sought after for my custom cakes, a cast member of a Food Network show, working on multiple book & TV projects.

But for months I’d been ill, my once limber & strong body wracked with pain, joints stiff & inflamed. I couldn’t hold a coffee mug or bend my elbows to reach my hair to shampoo it, much less work the 50-80 hour weeks that were my norm nor create the tiered & sculpted cakes that I’d become known for. My body had betrayed me. By the time I got the news from my doc I already knew something was very wrong.

RA had taken away my life in a flash. I quickly became too ill to function. The constant pain was exhausting, depressing, and completely overwhelming. And oh wow was I ANGRY!

In the midst of this darkness I became sure there was a silver lining to it all. When I first felt that glimmer of hope I thought I might be going mad. How could an incurable disease bring any good? I had no clue. But I knew deep in my heart it was true.

That’s why I do what I do now.

When my doc looked me dead in the eye and said meds were my only hope & that diet has nothing to do with RA, I called BS on that nonsense. I’m kinda stubborn like that.

I trusted my instinct that told me diet & lifestyle have EVERYTHING to do with it. I researched & studied & Googled my heart out. I experimented until I found what worked. After a few weeks on my new program I was symptom free.

I then went back to school to study nutrition so I’d have credibility & I started a new business, A Well-Nourished Life, helping others do what I did. I re-invented my life. I found my silver lining.