Still struggling with this concept?!!??!?!

you can eat more.

Cardio has health benefits all of its own... Yes you can lose weight without doing any, but that is not what this is all about. It's about being healthy...

Eating more is a bonus...

you can eat more.

So that's the big advantage? If I want to go out and have some beers or eat out just work out and it's a wash?

Not quite. While you can lose weight just by cutting calories, its really not benefitting you. If you don't exercise, especially some form of strength training, you will basically shrink. You will look exactly the same, just on a smaller scale. You need to ask yourself if you are content with that, or if you really want to transform your shape.

When you get closer to your Goal, you're seriously gonna want those extra exercise calories.

Just do it. Your body is designed to move. Use it or lose it.

The point of exercising is so you don't lose muscle mass, which will drastically effect your appearance. Look up pictures of people at the same height and weight, except one has exercised to lose weight, and the other just cut calories. The one who exercised is toned, and firmer, and the other is "skinny fat", where they look flabby, soft, etc.

First, your estimated BMR, or basal metabolic rate, is an estimate of the number of calories you would burn if you were completely inactive, e.g. if you were in a coma and just laying there. Your total daily energy expenditure, or TDEE, is how many calories you burn in the normal course of a day (dressing, working, etc.). In order to lose weight, you need to eat a deficit relative to your TDEE, for example, if you want to lose a pound per week, you need to eat roughly 500 calories fewer than your TDEE.

Exercise may not be necessary in order to lose weight, but it does have a number of other benefits, including improved health, many people also enjoy better moods, a sense of satisfaction, and feeling stronger in everyday life. Exercising regularly during the weight loss process, particularly exercises that build strength, will mean that you don't lose as much muscle while losing weight. A lot of people also enjoy that they can eat more and still maintain a caloric deficit if they exercise--personally, I find exercise makes me very hungry, so the "extra" calories feel less like a luxury, and more like an immediate need.

Ok, so I think I've got it figured out.

So. A person has a BMR. If that person wants to loose weight, they consume a certain % of the total BMR calories to create a daily calorie deficit. This weight loss can be achieved sitting on the couch with no effort/exertion what so ever. Let's assume that calculated daily caloric intake is 1800 calories to loose weight.

The % should come off your TDEE NOT your BMR.

Your BMR is what your body needs to function without doing anything else.

Your TDEE is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure -- or how much your body needs to do all the things you do each day ontop of general functions.

I get up and exercise because it allows me to eat more, it makes me feel good, my body will look better because I've exercised and hopefully it'll help reduce my blood pressure.

Also, the muscle mass I gain from strength training will help me burn more calories to lose weight faster.

Here is some more literature that I found that shows a benefit to strength training.

"Get exercise. Physical activity is very important for burning calories, lowering your "set point" (the weight your body gravitates toward), and increasing your metabolic level (rate of burning calories), even while you are not exercising. We recommend burning at least 300 calories daily through exercise.

Raise your metabolic rate. A primary factor in determining your metabolic rate -- the rate at which you burn calories -- is the number of mitochondria in cells. Mitochondria are tiny energy factories that fuel every cell. The more you have, the more energy you will burn, which will keep you leaner. Unfortunately, we cannot simply take a mitochondria supplement. However, fat cells have very few mitochondria because fat cells store energy rather than burn it, whereas muscle cells have many because they need energy to perform their job. So as you build muscle cells from a regular exercise program, you increase your mitochondria, thereby permanently raising your metabolic rate, even when you are not exercising."

i guess i'll add.... ST i would always make a must.. cardio is something you do if you want to eat an extra chip.