this i going to be really stupid but, my mother and i are going to start a diet this summer its for losing weight and bodyfat, im thinking its a diet for body competion though. I (we) wanted to know what we should do, how much cardio and how much lifting. we have some equipment- tredmil, bench, weights, and a machine- but we dont have a gym close enough. what ever help you can provide is great. thanks alot.

first get your body fat% tested find your basal metabolic rate, find your maintenance level (amt of cals) for this you can check the stickies on the nutrition part of the website (I personally am still having trouble finding mantenace level so you might have to ask around). A general rule of thumb is to have a cal deficit of 20%, cardio workout of 3/4 days a week and lifting 3 days week. I would start resistance training/weight training 3 days aweek look at the stickies on the weigh training part and take one rest day. Im better at advising on the nutritional part so ill stick with that
make sure you eat a lot of protein, only whole grain carbs like wheat pasta/brown rice, yams, beans (cut out refined sugar, hydrogenated oils, fried food all that stuff, and white bread/rice), eat good fats as in seafood ( check cholesterol content though), natural peanut butter, peanuts. eat lean meats such as chicken, lean beef (no lower than 90/10), and lean turkey. This is just a start, once you get into to if you have more specific questions i can help more. The biggest thing I can tell you is do your research and your reading before you start, find all the facts.

That rule of thumb is really poor. Cardio not as good as certain forms of HIIT. Sounds like you put too much emphasis on weight training. You certainly dont need heaps of protein (tedious myth).

If you want a successfull change in body comp diets dont work, your going to have to change your lifestyle for the good and if you really keen to get some proffesional advice on how to do this.

Whenever my kids ask me how my diet is going, I tell them, "I'm not on a diet--I've changed my diet; I eat differently now."