Tracy Anderson, fitness trainer to celebrity moms such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Richie, has some strong opinions about women gaining excess weight during pregnancy. The mother of two, who welcomed her daughter Penelope just six weeks ago, recently spoke to DuJour magazine about the difference between her 2012 pregnancy and having gained 60 pounds while pregnant with her son Sam in 1998.

“A lot of women use pregnancy as an excuse to let their bodies go, and that’s the worst thing,” Tracy Anderson said. “I’ve seen so many women who come to me right after (having children) with disaster bodies that have gone through hell, or they come to me years later and say, ‘Oh, my body is like this because I had three kids.’”

During her most recent pregnancy the 37-year-old gained just 30 pounds, giving new perspective to her first experience carrying a child.

“I feel like I’ve lived an entire lifetime since then,” the fitness guru, seen here in January, shared. “For 13 years I’ve been jumping around, dancing at such high levels all over the world and with no sleep for multiple hours a day. I thought, ‘Please, I can bust out an hour of dance aerobics, no problem.’ Wrong!”

“I know that the journey of getting back to your best level of performance physically is very hard, but it’s an incredibly empowering place to be,” Tracy Anderson advised.

photo: PR Photos