Calorie Deficit?

Am I to understand that in order to lose 2 pounds a week, I need to have a calorie deficit of 7000 cal a week?

Yus.

no, you will lose two punds of PURE fat and also an other pound or two of muscle and water. so you should be losing about 3 to 4 pounds for each 7000 cal deficit.

Well, so far I'm confused.  I'm lifting weights in an effort NOT to lose muscle.  Will this make a difference?

If you don't want to lose muscle a high protein - low carb diet is required, for each pound you weight you should consume AT LEAST 1 gram of protein, along with your weights rutine you need a cardio rutine and i'm talking about at least 45 min of cardio per day 5 to 7 days a week, so if you want a slim shreded body you'll need  dedication and power of will... if you just want to be skinny you just need to create a calorie deficit.

d_supernova_xl, where are you getting your information?

According to the Harvard School of Public Health the correct equation is 7 grams for every 20 pounds of body weight.  Too much protein is harmful, because your body needs to buffer chemicals that are released digesting protein with calcium... which it would pull from your bones.

Oh, sure...I'm less confused now.... NOT!

That's correct, in order to lose 2 lbs a week you will need a to consume 7000 total calories less than what you burn during the week. This 7000 calories will be compensated by your body breaking down energy storages (muscle and fat). This doesn't mean you will burn 2 lbs of pure fat and then another 2 lbs of muscle. Depending on your own body it will be muscle or fat or both.

Lifting weights will make a difference in that it will generally dampen the breakdown of muscle during the weight loss process. Also by working your muscles it enhances your metabolism and makes you burn more calories throughout the day.

To be honest there's a lot of back and forth when it comes to information about carb consumption. My general rule is not to eat refined carbs and to cut back on sugar consumption. It's hard for me to get around it because I like fruits and some high sugar vegetables but I just compensate by scaling back on sugar elsewhere. But I’ll never cut out carbs completely because I like to work out.

Activities like strength training or high intensity cardio use carbohydrates as fuel. The thing about high intensity cardio though, is that it will break down fat and muscle for fuel. (Carbohydrates are created for burst energy through the breakdown of muscle).  Low or moderate intensity cardio also breaks down muscle, but not to as great a degree as high intensity cardio. Therefore I try to do cardio in moderation, and I make sure to include carbs in my diet to fuel my activities.