Just making sure that I'm on the right track

Frankietb

As per a friend's recommendation, I registered with MFP a few weeks ago and find the information and encouragement wonderful here. Thank you.

Because of (what seems like) a lifetime of constantly watching what I eat and failing at my goals, I really want this time to be the time that I succeed. I am asking this community for their help in identifying what a proper plan would be for me to reach my goals of losing 20lbs and lowering my body fat.

My stats :

42 years young

5’3”
157 lbs (goal is 135)

Set to net 1500 calories a day (eating back exercise)

Been lifting weights for years and completed NROLFW over 2 years ago but continued to weight train using various programs (I can lift heavy enough) – started up with NROLFW again Feb 11th 2013 and at stage 2 now.

Exercise regime (average 350 calories burned a session):
Strength training - 3 days a week and add 20 min of moderate cardio after
Cardio (elliptical or running) 1 day a week (45 minutes – average heart rate at 80%)
Vinyasa Yoga 1 day a week (90 minutes)

I have a desk job and exercise at lunch. Once home, I go, go, go and just park my butt on the couch only once everything at home is taken care of (like the good wife and mother that I am).

I read the information for newbies and read through quite a bit of the various topics in the community forums but I’m still not 100% sure what I should be doing. I’ve done what seems like every combination of calculations suggested and recommend here and I’m still not sure if I got it right.

Would any of you mind sharing your thoughts regarding my plan? I’m not getting any younger ya know and I’m terrified of failing once again. My diary is open (I believe). In all honestly, I am finding that I am currently eating more than I was before starting here. I used to log my food and activity on Livestrong’s My Daily Plate and looking at it now, I would only net about 1000 calories a day thinking that was the way to go. I MUCH prefer this site for tracking and will continue to do so.

Thank you in advance for looking at my topic and I appreciate any feedback that you are willing to give.