I decided my goal was to loose one pound of fat per week.  The actual breakdown of how to do this is purely scientific. 

To loose that 500 calories a day, you can either eat 500 less or burn 500 more by exercising.  Or, to make it an easier goal to achieve, eat 250 calories less, and burn 250 calories more a day by exercising.

Set your realistic achievable goal

How much weight do you want to loose in total? 
Divide that total weight loss goal by 52 (52 weeks in a year)

My goal is to loose 70 pounds, if I want to loose that in one year I need to loose 1.35 pounds per week.

70 pounds divided by 52 weeks = 1.35 pounds.
A total of 4375 calories in a week must be sacrificed
625 calories per day.

Example My Daily Goal:
I can cut 313 calories from my food intake and increase my exercise to burn 313 calories to achieve my goal of 625 calories less per day.

Check your food journal and ask yourself these questions:

• Where can I realistically cut 625 calories per day? (Check out Starbucks nutritional guide)

• Can I make up for some of the calories by exercising to increase how many I burn per day?

• Is my goal realistic?
   

If you decide after looking at your food journal that you can't cut that many calories from your daily intake or, you don't have time to exercise as much as it would require to compensate for the calorie intake then you need to increase the time that you have allowed yourself to loose the weight to 78 weeks or 104.

This is where you can adjust and customize your own weight loss program. Decide how much dedication you can give to achieving your goal, or decide to adjust your goal so that you can accomplish your desired weight loss. 

Be honest to yourself, be realistic about what you are willing to do
 and be dedicated to your goal!