Celeb Fitness Trainer Pens Teen Book

Tracy Anderson, a fitness trainer who has worked with celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Lena Dunham, and Gwyneth Paltrow, is now sharing her expertise with young women in her book, Total Teen: Tracy Anderson’s Guide to Health, Happiness, and Ruling Your World . In Total Teen , Anderson wants young women to get fit by starting workout routines and healthy eating habits while they're young. "After spending almost 20 focused years helping people find comfort in their own skin, I saw a huge preventative opportunity to make sure teen girls never lose their connection to being themselves and having to find it again,” she told PEOPLE . Anderson is a controversial figure in the fitness industry. She is credited with creating a dubious weight-loss fad, made a judgmental comment regarding mothers-to-be who gain more than their recommended weight during pregnancy, and after reading this article , maybe has unresolved body issues of her own. In Total Teen , Anderson reminds teens that they shouldn't hold themselves up to the same standards of celebrities featured in magazines. "It’s all a vicious cycle of some editor sitting up in some tower airbrushing people to look like something dreamy. The issue is that teens need to understand that this falls into entertainment and art. It isn’t real." While Anderson is helping out teens sort our what's real vs. what's fake in celebrity, she's not innocent in this game played. Celebrities go to her gym to get fit by any means necessary, and Anderson is paid handsomely for it. Those same clients appear on a number of magazine covers, drop Anderson's name in the accompanying articles, and still get the airbrush treatment. Photos are airbrushed for number of reasons: Wrinkles, flyaway hair, styling issues, and yes, body refinement. And, if you compare Anderson's book cover photo to a red carpet photo in the PEOPLE link , it looks like she didn't pass up the opportunity to get airbrushed for her book. But Strutter isn't an airbrushing expert, so we'll never have official word. Anderson brings celebrity industry tricks to light, but she's a cog in that wheel, too. While the book it titled Total Teen , it's clear that Anderson is aiming her book at young women. Is her workout plan a healthy way of life or a discipline disguised as fitness that isn't body positive? Proceed with caution.