RE: losing 2 pounds per week. :)

doing the math;
one pound is 3500 calories, right?
then
Two pounds is 7000 calories.
Losing 2 Lb. per week would then involve
dropping 1000 calories per DAY, LESS than we NEED.
Not less than we usually eat.

or, BURNING 1000 calories more per day than we need.
or combination of both, like eating 500 calories less than we need and burning 500 more calories than we usually do, per day.
After we burn 500 calories in exercise we need to eat. hehe. but more importantly we need Mainly WATER, and some electrolytes. Celery* stalks or an orange is best in my opinion.
and NOT some health drinks promoted for just that, which are high calorie drinks.
Dehydration shows up as weight loss, but we are supposed to be 80% water.
AND we can actually DIE from electrolyte** loss from excessive exercise. !

*QUOTE from http://celerynutritions.com/archives/benefits-gotten-from-eating-celery.html

"Since celery has a high content of sodium, it is advisable to take it when a person wants to replace electrolytes in the body. It has also proven to be better than all the other electrolyte replacement drinks like Gatorade."
END QUOTE.

I found out what my daily requirements of calories is by tracking how many calories I eat, and checking my weight every morning. For me, depending on how active I am, I need 2000 to 2300 calories a day.

also I check http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
trying all options including advanced options of Katch-McCardle method since I know my body fat percentage (or pretty close.)


**
Andrea Smeltzer died in her sleep at the age of 19 due to an
electrolyte imbalance that was caused by her bulimia, which
caused her heart to stop beating.

**
Officials with the coroner's office said 17-year-old Patrick Allen died from complications of an electrolyte imbalance including hyponatremia, due to excess liquid ingestion.

While Allen was consuming water, officials said he was sweating all of his sodium or salt out of his body and not replenishing that sodium -- which they said is needed by the body's organs in order to run, ABC23 reported.

ABC23 spoke to an area pediatrician who said a good way to replenish sodium lost in the body is to consume sports drinks or to take salt tablets -- especially for those working out for more than two or three hours and those sweating a lot in high temperatures.
However, for those working out for less than an hour or two and in more moderate temperatures, doctors said sports drinks can actually be unhealthy.
END QUOTES.

Just a correction- our body is not made up of 80% water. New borns are made up of 75-80% water but adult humans are made up of 55-65% water with men and thinner individuals tend to have among the higher percentage of that range.

I do acknowledge the importance of fluid and electrolyte balance. Death is a very extreme consequence of this problem and it is very rare that such a thing would occur without signs and symptoms first being apparent.

Interesting perspective. I haven't had any celery in awhile, guess I'd better eat some so I don't die.

Well thought out, and I pretty much think you're on the right track with your mindset - it's very close to my philosophy.
There is one thing that I would like to add - when it comes to the "LESS than when need, not less than what we normally eat" part.
We weigh what we weigh more or less because of what we eat. If we weight 80 kgs it's because we have an average calorie intake of an 80 kg person. If we weight 120 it's because we have an average calorie intake that fits 120 kgs. This what the philosophy that started my weight loss journey almost a year ago.
Now if you weigh 120 kgs, and you want to weigh 80, you basically need to work your way towards what an 80 kg person eats. You can do that by taking off for example 1000 calories from what you normally eat, and you will lose 2 lbs per week. Then of course, you will have to re-calculate when you reach a new weight and then adjust to eat 1000 calories less than what you burn at that time. This would ensure that you don't get too far into starvation mode (I know - I ended up there) and give you a healthy, steady weight loss.
And yes, you can also up your activity level, so you burn more - that would count too.
I'm no expert on this, but this is what I've done, and it seems to fit with your theory.
It's very interesting what you posted about water/electrolytes. Definitely something to keep in mind. I know many people here avoid salt like the plague, because it makes you retain water, but I always thought it didn't matter. It's not the water we need to lose. I think, if we eat normal, balanced food in moderation we will generally get what we need nutrition wise, and we will reach our ideal weight. Fat Secret helps us stay accountable to do just that.
Keld.