Source: Advertiser News South
Starting in her early 20s, Alana Van Der Sluys had three undiagnosed eating disorders. She recovered from them by reading books and listening to podcasts. Although she recommends seeking medical help for an eating disorder, the books and podcasts helped her.
Since then, the Jefferson NJ resident has become an English and journalism teacher at Kinnelon High School — and an author.
Van Der Sluys has written a book, Freedom with Food and Fitness, and is the the founder and chief executive of a company with the same name, through which she coaches clients on intuitive eating, an approach to nutrition and fitness without dieting.
It took Van Der Sluys five months to write it and another six months to find a publisher. But the book was rejected 87 times: she learned that the health and wellness genre is huge and that many publishers only want celebrity authors.
In the book, she guides readers through the core principles of intuitive eating. It is filled with personal stories, science-backed research, and tools for the reader to adopt a mindful and intuitive approach to nutrition and fitness.
The book has two parts: one about finding food freedom by rejecting diets and learning about intuitive eating and the second about reclaiming a love of exercise by incorporating movement into routines and letting go of the perfect-body myth.
“I have been speaking on stages at women’s conferences and businesses on how the diet culture saps time, money and energy from women and how to reclaim their resources and reinvest them back into their lives and businesses,” she said.
At the beginning of the year, Van Der Sluys gave a 12-minute talk at TEDxRutgersCamden in January, “Making Health and Wellness Accessible to All,” explaining why she considers the wellness industry to be elitist: