I will say sorry in advance becaue I know this will probably be a long thread and I don't even know if this is the right place to post.

I am 38 and terribly out of shape. After having kids and years of yo-yo dieting along with being a smoker I am in sorry shape. I have cut way back on the smoking(trying very hard to quit). I am so out of shape even the simplest exercise videos leave me feeling useless. I have no back or ab strength to do a sit up. The majority of my weight is my gut below my belly button. I look like I'm pregnant again. I even tried a pilates video. I get so discouraged that I quit. I joined curves this week and I love it. I guess what I'm asking is...will this get me going in the right direction? Should I do just this for a while then try other things when I am stronger? Or are there some extra things that I can do now to help? I did start to put on a cd and dance around for 20-30 minutes. Is this enough cardio? After 10 minutes I am sweating and my heart is really going. As you can tell I know nothing about exercise.

If I am trying to do sit ups and can only lift myself a little is this o.k. or am I just hurting myself? My back is always killing me when I try so I don't even know if I am doing them right. I live in a small town and there are no "gyms" so I don't have a place to go to get help.

I started atkins a month ago and have done very well thanks in part to all of the wonderful help on this site. It has taken me the whole month to get the courage to ask for exercise help. I guess because I feel so useless when it comes to any kind of exercise and everyone here seems to have it all together. I know that I may lose all of the weight that I want to, but that I need to exercise to keep my skin tight as well as feeling better. I now have the energy, thanks to lcarbing, to actually want to exercise now. I just need some help in how to start. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!!!!
Lisa