It’s no surprise that it was a star-studded affair when celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson launched her nine-disk workout DVD, “Tracy Anderson: The Pregnancy Project,” at a party thrown by friends Gwyneth Paltrow and Christy Turlington Burns last month in New York City. After all, such bold-faced names as Madonna, Nicole Richie, Courteney Cox, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez have her to thank for their red-carpet-ready bodies.
And although Anderson is known for her rock-hard discipline in order for her clients to get rock-hard bodies, she knows when it’s OK to ease up: when you’re expecting.
“I think you should give in to most cravings during pregnancy, because your body is telling you what it needs to nurture this new life,” Anderson told us. “The thing I don’t advocate is what I did during my first pregnancy — I craved Pizza Hut, I craved McDonald’s, I craved Oreo Blizzards from Dairy Queen. We’re talking the crappiest food on the planet. So while I do think you can have some of that every once in a while, don’t make it a daily habit, because then you’re setting yourself up for disaster.”
Anderson knows this firsthand: She gained more than 60 pounds in her first pregnancy with her son Sam in 1998 — not a good look when you make a very good living by being in shape. She learned her lesson and, through a healthy diet and exercise, only gained 30 pounds with her second child, a daughter named Penelope, who was born in May.
Now Anderson takes that hard-earned knowledge to help other moms-to-be stay in shape throughout their pregnancy in the new DVDs, which offer a different workout for each month of pregnancy plus nutrition support. “Women are not supported enough in pregnancy, which is why I love ‘The Pregnancy Project,'” she says. “It’s why I did nine months of DVDs, because your body changes so much. Every single month you need something different — like, you’re really nauseous in the beginning and then in the second trimester, you feel really good and in the third you feel like a house. You need support throughout the whole entire pregnancy.”
Tracy’s tips
Her pregnancy pointers:
Listen to your body first. “You know more than anyone else what is good or bad to do during your pregnancy,” she says.
Enjoy every step of the ride. “It goes by so quickly,” she says. “Even the days when you’re miserable and barfing over a toilet, you’ll soon not remember the bad parts. It’s a really beautiful journey. Women need to savor every moment but know that after [their pregnancy] they will need to be strong and connected because they have to take care of an infant.”
