Having a regular, easy to achieve goal works for me. Trying to lose 2 stone for example is a bit demoralising but losing a pound in a week is more achieveable.
Create a spreadsheet.
Column A is dates, every row is a week (1st October, 8th October, 15th October and so on)
Column B is your target weight (starting with your current weight and decreasing by 1 pound per week)
Column C is your actual weight every week, pick a 'weigh day' that gives you a good chance of having lost some weight (Not Sunday morning after a Friday/Saturday feast). Thursday is good.
Your goal is to lose 1 pound per week (and not much more). Sometimes, if you are quite overweight you may easily lose more but 1 pound per week is a pretty healthy goal, shifting the fat but not 'leaching' muscle mass.
Unless you are pretty slim already 1 pound per week should be easy and the spreadsheet approach (column B) lets you see how effective it can be over a few months (6 months = 2 stone or thereabouts). All you have to do is cut back.
If you are sedentary then you really may need to start calorie counting because you won't have many to play with.
Remember 1 pound = 3500 calories (500 per day).
Good luck
