Millions of people have struggled to lose weight, and many have succeeded.  The great big question is, how?

How do people overcome the obstacles and win the weight loss battle.  There are almost as many stories as there are individuals.

Many will tell you they fastidiously tracked and counted all of their calories to lose weight.  Some give credit to their personal trainers, saying they were coached through grueling workouts – crunches, cardio, weight lifting, etc. – three or four times a week until the weight began to melt off.

Others will tell you they found some miracle diet on the INTERNET, some well-kept secret regimen used by doctors to reduce heart-patients’ weights prior to surgery, and they were finally able to lighten up.

Still others will swear by a strictly vegetarian, carb-free protein only, or high-grain low-sugar plan will do the trick.

With all of the opinions, research and weight-loss strategies out there, the consensus among nutritionists, dietitians, doctors and personal trainers is that any overweight person must reduce their intake of calories to lose weight.  So, then, what is the magic number?

You may be more than happy to count calories to lose weight, but obviously just counting them is not going to change anything.  So, how do you know how many calories to eat on a daily basis, or how many to cut out of your normal diet?

The basic rule is based on how many calories you burn in a day.  Once you figure that out, you simply need to be sure that you consistently eat fewer than that number of calories to lose weight.  Getting regular exercise affects the numbers as well.

For example, if your normal life causes you to use about 2500 calories per day, you can eat 2200 calories to lose weight.  If you exercise or increase your daily activity enough to burn just 200 calories, your effective intake is only 2000 calories.

On the whole, this would result in a weight loss of up to one pound a week, which experts say is safe and a good way to ensure permanent results.