The following correction was printed in the Guardian’s Corrections and clarifications column, Wednesday January 31 2007
There were several mistakes in the article below: the company is called Pushy Mothers, not Pushy Mums; it is Judy DiFiore, not Fiore; the website is www.pushymothers.com not www.pushymums.org.
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I am now officially a pushy mother and it’s not down to my 4am musings when I blearily gaze down at my blue-eyed guzzling precious and plan her future as the world’s first Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning supermodel. No, it’s all Rachel Berg and Judy DiFiore’s fault. Berg and DiFiore set up Pushy Mothers - a group helping new mothers to regain their bodies and self esteem. Those of you who have been following this column will know that physical motivation in the face of sheer exhaustion is proving to be an issue. But my usual excuses didn’t wash with Berg. Lack of childcare was irrelevant as you need a baby in a buggy to use in the workout. The back-ache wasn’t applicable either as the exercises are approved by the Guild of Pregnancy and Postnatal Exercise Instructors.
The meeting point was on London’s Hampstead Heath, where Berg herded us into a double line, shouting: “Let’s get pushing! Keep those stomachs pulled in, don’t let the cheese slide away from the pizza!”
Keeping my pizza topping firmly in place, I raced off like Kelly Holmes, hoping the other mums could keep up, especially the one pushing the twins. Twelve minutes later, as I puffed up the hill, I realised that twin-mum was already at the top and even hernia-mum had a good 10 feet on me. Then it was time for bench presses on a real park bench followed by stepping on a real step. In the end, I had a thoroughly good workout and a cathartic whinge about sleep deprivation. Now, I call that a win-win morning.
