Last year, Megan Young came home from college with a degree in public relations and marketing — and a few extra pounds.

Her mother, Tish, had also accumulated unwanted padding. So she made a pact with her daughter: they'd lose the weight together.

"It was time to get into shape," said Megan, 23, an account coordinator at Laird Christianson Harris Advertising Inc. "For my mom and I, we needed to reach that point where it was just time to take it seriously. And we did."

Megan wanted to drop about 40 pounds. Tish wanted to lose about 50 pounds. They knew that they needed motivation — it was hard enough just deciding to lose the weight.

It took Tish and Megan six months from the time they made that decision to actually doing something about it.

A week before Thanksgiving, worried about packing on the pounds over the holidays, the pair signed up with Weight Watchers. But it's their tag-team approach that has really kept them on track.

"Support is really important," said Tish, 51, co-owner of Robb Young's Fine Woodworking. "We encourage us not to be discouraged. When I get on the scale, Megan is just biting her fingernails. She's so excited for me. And vice versa."

So far, they've lost a combined 77 pounds.

"It blows my mind," Tish said.

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE CHILD

It's not uncommon that daughters pick up their mothers' eating and workout habits, said Linda Giles of Weight Watchers in Hawai'i.

In fact, positive role-modeling by mothers is one of the best ways to foster healthy habits in children.

"What works isn't telling your children what to do," said Giles, a mother of two. "It's living it and showing them what to do and allowing them to make choices for themselves."

That can make mothers and daughters strong allies in the battle to lose weight.

"Mothers and daughters teaming up to lose weight can provide a powerful and successful support system," Giles said.

Dropping the pounds wasn't easy for either Tish or Megan, and the strategy worked for them.

"We encourage one another and keep each other motivated," Tish said. Plus, she added, "Since we enjoy each other's company, getting to have one-on-one time together is always a bonus."

Instead of using Weight Watchers' popular points-based plan, Tish and Megan chose the Core Plan, which provided them with a list of foods they could eat without counting calories.

Their diets, they both realized, needed a serious overhaul.

Tish, who works in Halawa, would often stop at Ani's Bake Shop for a doughnut. And she couldn't resist anyone selling cookies.

Like her mother, Megan loves sweets, particularly cheesecake and rich ice cream.

They both knew their eating habits had to change — and fast.

Luckily for them, they have a great cook in the house: dad Robb.

He whips up healthy dinners for his wife and daughter, finding inventive ways to lighten up their favorite dishes.

For example, Robb makes garlic mashed potatoes with chicken broth and nonfat milk, and makes a yellow cake with applesauce and nonfat vanilla pudding.

"Oh, I scored big," Tish raved about her husband's cooking skills. "I thank God for him every day."

In addition to eating better, the two had to start working out.

They dusted off — literally — the NordicTrack that sat in a spare bedroom in their Kailua home and got moving. They use the exercise machine — Tish every day, Megan five times a week — for about 30 minutes. And they walk around the neighborhood together before dinner most nights for about half an hour.

Being each other's whip-crackers has helped them stay consistent. "When I don't want to exercise or I'm lazy, she'll kick me in the butt to do it, in a good way," Megan said. "So that at the end of the day I can feel OK about having that Skinny Cow (ice cream treat)."

RECONNECTING

Even though Tish grew up playing sports in Los Angeles — she moved to Hawai'i in 1973 to play volleyball for Chaminade University — she struggled with her weight.

And after college, working out slid down her priority list.

"Once I had kids, my whole focus changed," said Tish, who also has a 21-year-old son, Daniel. "I'd try to lose weight, then I'd gain it back. I did the yo-yo thing, kind of like everybody else. I was just always fighting the weight."

Two years ago, Tish had her thyroid removed, prompting her to quit smoking, a habit she picked up in high school. The pounds piled on.

"By the time I got to Megan's graduation (from Chapman University in May 2005), I was huge," she said. "It was the heaviest I had ever been."

That took an emotional toll. She didn't even like to walk around her neighborhood for fear of running into someone she knew.

"I just did not feel good about myself," she said. "I didn't want to go out and buy new clothes."

Megan headed down a similar path. Though she rode her bike around campus in college, she never committed to regular workouts or made healthy choices.

"I never worried about stuff like that," Megan said. "I was more eating for convenience and going out with friends. I didn't sit down and make healthy meals. I was too busy with other things."

She felt self-conscious about her body, too, hiding beneath sweatshirts and jeans.

Now that they've dropped the extra pounds, Tish and Megan feel as good as they look.

"I feel a lot of difference," Tish said. "My energy level is better and by doing exercise I'm more limber. I can bend over and pick something up ... And when I do see myself, I'm, like, 'That looks alright. I can live with that.' "

Megan, who now wears skirts, is excited about her upcoming visit back to Orange County to see classmates, who haven't seen her in a year. And though this vacation will undoubtedly call for celebration dinners and drinks, she's confident that she'll make smart choices this time.

"It will always be in the back of my mind how far I've come," Megan said. "I'm not going to blow it all in a week."