Women strength training... for real

Hi, thanks for the great thread. This is just what I needed as I want to start strength training. Just a warning, this might be a long post..
I am a complete beginner, I have worked out with weights in the past but never kept doing it regularly enough to see results. It's been at least 6 months since my last attempt to start strength training but I feel I'm ready to commit to it this time.

I am trying to come up with a strength training plan and after reading this whole thread, I think I have a general idea of what to do. I will post my goals, my plan, and a few questions and it would be great if you could take the time to add/ correct/ make reccomendations to my plan.

I am 5'1 and 130lbs.
My goals are to:
1. Lose some fat. My goal is 110-115lbs but the number is not that important as long as I look lean.
2. Maintain muscle mass while losing fat, last thing I want to be is "skinny fat".
3. Perhaps add some weight in muscle once the fat is gone.
4. Improve overall cardiovascular fitness level.

My plan based on what I've learned from this thread:

1. Calorie deficit to lose fat. I am currently logging all foods and been doing good about the deficit.. so I'll keep doing this.
2. Strength training:
3 full body workouts every week on non-consecutive days, working all the large muscle groups, using the heaviest weight I can do 5-8 reps with. I only have dumbbells, a set of 4 and a set of 8lbs. I'm going to start out with the 4lbs until I learn correct form and then see if 8 is a good weight for a set consisting of 5-8 reps. If it's too easy, will go higher.
3. Cardio: I understand cardio isn't really necessary but I enjoy it for now and will keep doing it to aid with the deficit and to improve overall cardiovascular fitness. I currently do a 3 mile run in about 30-40 minutes 5-6 days a week. But I think I might cut down on that and do just 3 days on the same days I do strength training so I can give the muscles time to recover. It's probably not a good idea to do a full body workout one day and then go running the next day.

Even though I have the basic plan as outlined above, I still have some questions.

1. I work full time and also have school full time, so although I will make time for the plan I outlined, I would prefer it if there is a way to do things faster with the same results. For example, circuit training.. is this a good idea? I could combine my cardio and strength into 1 routine. But then I was thinking with all the cardio, maybe I would be too tired to lift heavy enough weights, especially since I am a beginner. What do you think?

2. How many sets? How many reps per set? How heavy?
I was thinking 5-8 reps with a weight that I'm able to do the whole thing with 1-2 reps left. Does this sound right? Or is it better to train until failure? And how many sets? I heard anything from 1 set being enough to anywhere up until 5 sets.

3. Lastly, what muscle groups for a full body workout? I want to improve my overall physique..
I would probably do shoulders, chest, back, biceps, triceps, abs, glutes, quads and hamstrings. These are the basics right? But then I see many routines that does calves, forearms, inner thighs, outer thighs, lower back, upper back etc.. Do I need to do seperate movements for all these or do the movements that work the basic, larger muscles already work the smaller muscles such as the forearm or inner thigh etc..

Thanks for reading so far, I know this has been long but I have so many questions and the more I read, the more I get confused..
Please feel free to add to my plan or make corrections/ reccomendations. :happy:

I already gave you my suggestion for a workout...but I wanted to say the rest of what you're proposing looks pretty good to me. As I mentioned, I'd do the strength workout in fast circuit style, which when combined with your deficit, will burn fat quickly. I personally wouldn't worry too much about the cardio with that style strength training routine, but if you felt the need...tues/thurs/sat would be good days for a very light cardio workout (consider it stretching more than a workout), or a short burst of high intensity intervals. 15-20 minutes on those off days goes a long way.

I am a big supporter of the 5x5 (5 reps, 5 sets) format. You get in heavy weight, and plenty of reps to stimulate the muscles.

I think with as much effort as you've put into researching this, you'll do wonderfully once you just start doing it =D.

Thanks Cris, your suggestions really helped and I already started today.
The one thing I modified though is the circuit style training. What you are saying definitely makes sense, I could do both things at once and eliminate/ reduce the cardio and will probably do that when the weather starts getting cold. But for now, I like going out for a run in the mornings, but am going to reduce it a little. So since I'm already getting the cardio, and since I'm a beginner I'm just going to focus on correct form while strength training and maybe try the circuit style when it's cold outside.

One question though, what can I substitute for the pull ups? I'm doing these at home and just have dumbbells for now, but will get more as I improve. But for now, what can I do with dumbbells? Or do I need to get a bar?