My question is are they actually effective?

Ive started doing 135 (3 sets of 15, in the regular legs up and then twisted left and then right) crunches as part of my work out routine.

My abs hurt like...really really bad...I just want to know if this is actually gonna benefit me with losing my belly and love handles. Other wise I dunno if I want to keep doing them every other day.

Are doing crunches going to help you lose your belly and love handles? Nope. Sorry, it sucks, I know, but you cannot "target" weight loss.

In order to lose weight in your belly and abs and hips, you have to reduce fat all over. Your body is genetically programmed to lose fat in a certain pattern - and that pattern is different for everyone. Unfortunately for most women, we tend to lose in our bellies and hips last.

Now, having said that, doing crunches does strengthen your ab muscles. And strengthening your core and abs and maintaining that lean muscle is a good thing. So just because doing ab work doesn't specifically reduce your stomach fat, it doesn't mean you should stop doing it. By working your abs, you're building strong muscles that will begin to show AFTER the fat starts melting off.

The fact that your tummy is sore after doing them shows that those muscles are weak and you should, in fact, continue to work those muscles. Crunches alone probably aren't the best strategy - I'd combine crunches with more full-core work - things like planks, squats (with weight), and other things that help build a strong ab/back core.

you cannot spot reduce fat. the muscle systems and fat systems of the body are independent of each other. so working on will not have a direct impact of the other so to speak.

To lose fat, you need to exercise so that your calorie burn is great enough that your body need to eat into fat stores to maintain balance. So crunches, being an isolation exercise and not very large of a muscle compared to the rest of the body, aren't very effective at creating a caloric burn. your best bet is doing full body compound movements like squats, lunges, bench press, pullups, rows, dips, military press, etc. these will get the entire body going much moreso than crunches ever will.

also for the record, crunches as a core workout too are rather bad for you. i would never do them. the exception is on a swiss ball, then you can actually isolate the ab muscle a lot more effectively without all the negative effects that come with crunches. regardless though, in the exercise effectiveness category, crunches aren't very good. instead here is a guide:
Actual full core workout:
TMUSCLE.com | Complete Core Training

Actual isolation ab workout if you still feel inclined to do abs directly
Starter
Leg raises, Plank, swiss ball rollouts

Advanced
Hanging leg raises, 1 armed plank, ab wheel rollouts

Cardio, along with dieting is the key to weight loss. Doing crunches won't help with your spot fat loss, as has already been mentioned, but some resistance work is quite important as well. Try to do some weights, along with your cardio and you'll lose fat much faster and build muscle in the process. Contrary to popular belief, crunches aren't bad for you. Most people don't know how to do a proper crunch anyway. They lift/crane their necks, without lifting the shoulder blades off the floor. Its important that you focus on the correct crunch form (Neck in line with your back, stare at the ceiling, if you can't maintain the proper form try placing a towel under your jaw). If your abs hurt a lot, then you might not be doing the exercises properly. But any core work should make you sore if you don't it regularly.

Try doing planks and some lower ab work (Leg raises, V Ups, Hanging knee raises). Exercises such as deadlifts and squats also work your core indirectly. Just be consistent and patient and you'll see the change.

I currently am doing a full body work out with cardio.

I do 20 min of weight lifting, 20 min bike ride, and 20 min swimming, and I thought throwing in crunches would help that area of my body.
I also calorie count making sure I burn more then I take in on a general basis.

It'll make you look more toned in the long run, when that pot belly simmers down, but no it won't actually do the simmering itself.

That being said gaining muscle mass (which is what you're doing with those crunches, provided you're taking in enough complete proteins) will increase your BMR (and total weight). However, Muscle tissue needs more calories to sustain itself than fat does, so your body will basically have a higher BMR and be burning more calories per day.

"That being said gaining muscle mass (which is what you're doing with those crunches, provided you're taking in enough complete proteins) will increase your BMR (and total weight). However, Muscle tissue needs more calories to sustain itself than fat does, so your body will basically have a higher BMR and be burning more calories per day."

Becareful when you say things like this... you can only gain a substantial amount of muscle mass if you're eating to gain weight. If you're in a calorie defecit, no matter how much protein you're eating, resistance training basically serves to force your body to keep the muscle mass it has and burn more fat, instead of losing muscle mass as well as fat.

This bears repeating.

Everyone here has given you some terrific and sound advice. About the only thing I would add is that you can probably scale back your crunch count, unless you absolutely love doing them. It's already been mentioned that no amount of crunches is going to cause you to lose belly fat, so maybe you don't have to do as many as you've been doing.

Have you been making sure your heartrate is up at a consistent rate when you workout?

I'll add to this a little more. The quality of an anerobic movement is always better than the quantity. Meaning a nice controlled crunch...feeling the abs tighten...not just doing them as fast as you can which will just lead to injury!