While pregnant with her son, Sam, Tracy Anderson did what a lot of blissful, hormonal, devil-may-care future moms do: She inhaled milkshakes and chocolate. By the time she gave birth, the five-foot-tall dancer had gained 60 pounds. Six weeks later, she was slipping into size-0 clothes she'd never fit into before.
It would be easy to hate Anderson, except for three facts. First, she whittled down using a fitness method she devised herself after gaining 35 pounds her first year of college (she went to the American Musical & Dramatic Academy on a dance scholarship) and spent years researching and honing. Second, she shares all her secrets—the very ones that keep her two main clients, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, lithe and lean—on her new postpregnancy workout DVD. And last, she's incredibly sweet and not at all preachy. When asked if she lived on rice cakes after having Sam, now 10, Anderson's eyes widen. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no! I don't believe in dieting and counting calories," she says. "I love to eat!"
For the extremely active Anderson, 33, the challenge was not curbing intake but bucking her genetic destiny. That year at school, her freshman 15 "turned into 30, then 35, and all of a sudden I was starting to look like my dad, who is short, stocky, and very overweight," she says.
Determined to find a way to shape any figure into that "teeny-tiny dancer type," Anderson developed her workout and tested it on 150 women. Basically, it sculpts the small accessory muscles using high repetitions and light resistance, rather than bulking up large muscle groups. The exercises on her DVD are effective at tightening the core as well as its evil postpregnancy cohort, sagging tummy skin. But just as important, the workout is enjoyable—Anderson's smart, supportive delivery makes the disc one you'll actually stick with.
Paltrow is living proof. She contacted Anderson after having her son, Moses, saying, "I just had my second baby, and I can't get back to how I was before." After one session, Paltrow called her friend Madonna, and the two have both worked with Anderson ever since. Anderson lived with Madonna before and during her Sticky & Sweet tour last year and trained Paltrow via iChat; now she's video-training Madonna while preparing Paltrow for the Iron Man sequel. Sam, who is homeschooled, travels with her, as does Sam's dad, whom she calls her best friend. (They're not married, but, she says, "we raise our son completely together.")
But what if you can't afford a live-in trainer? Schedule your workout like an important meeting, and don't feel guilty for one second, says Anderson, who just opened her second fitness studio, in Manhattan (her first is in L.A.). "You're not being selfish; you're taking care of yourself and teaching your children to take care of themselves."
Sure, you'll be a more fit and energetic mom. But the real payoff, Anderson insists, is being able to dig into your kids' birthday cakes with gusto. "It's healthier for them to see that than to see Mommy counting her Weight Watchers points," she says. "I think that's the worst thing we can do to our kids."
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