Body for Life

I'm thinking of doing the Body for Life challenge with my mom, starting in a month or so. I'll be at a unique time in my life because my husband will be deployed and I don't have a full time career (though I have an interview soon!) so I want to take advantage of this and get in the best shape of my life. Mom has done it before and it worked really well before. We probably won't follow his nutrition plan but have our own ideas of what's healthy for our body types. Has anyone else tried and had any success with this?

One question I have is what weights I should start with. At home I have 3, 5, 8lb dumbells and also resistance bands (that I can hook over the door). At my local gym their dumbells start at 10lbs I think. I feel that my weights will be too light for some of the exercises but 10lb will be too heavy for some other ones so I'm not sure what to do about that. Was hoping someone could share their experiences? I'm just starting out with strength training and I'm not very strong yet. Thanks!