competition- mother/daughter.

i have a young,  very attractive mother.   (all the guys make jokes)      and well anyways.. we are the exact same weight but i am like a half inch taller.   

we have desided to do an 'inch off'  for 6 weeks. -  where we both try to change our eating habits/ excersize more.     sounds like a good idea,  right?     

yeah i thought so.... but i went to the gym and they said i am 26% body fat, while my mom is 27%.      i work out alll the time, and i assumed i would be in alot better of shape.     and after finding that out, i have seemed to have a lowered self esteem,  and feel guilty.   its really dumb.... but now when i hear remarks about my 'shape'    ive almost started to take them seriously, when i would usually just ignore them.

i guess im just wondering if you think that this is a good idea, for us to be competiting for the same goal.. or if you think that will evenually cause more problems.

Hmm it seems to me that you area really feeling a bit bad about a competition between your mom and you.

This competition is supposed to help you both.

Ask her how she feels about it. If she seems to give off the same feeling as you then I would just try to loose weight together and not turn it into a competition. Just try to help each other out.

It's supposed to help you want to loose weight. Your not supposed to feel bad about loosing or lower your self esteem.

What method did they use to measure bodyfat?

where they pinch different areas of your body with some sort of a tool.

May have been accurate, then again, they may have been simply trying to sell you a membership, or convince you how much you "need" their personal training. The front desk jackass at my former gym told me my face carried too much weight and that he could put me on a diet/training program...the guy was a lard, too.

My daughter and I are doing the same thing!  Basically, we have a weigh in every Friday and we also each have our own support group we belong to on CC.

Our goal is to encourage each other to make healthy food choices and cut down on snacking (we both have sweet tooths) and also to encourage each other to meet our exercise goals.  I have had some weeks I don't lose and so has she.  We just encourage each other to keep at it and celebrate together when we are doing well.

Don't be discouraged about the body fat calculation they gave you.  My daughter is extremely athletic - a member of a semi-professional ballet company, cheerleader and also just started training for a half-marathon.  Her body fat was in the same range.  It may or may not have been accurate.

If you and your mom feel good about this challenge, it can be a very positive experience for both of you.  The bonus - you have a built in support group you see every day!