How many?

Are you talking about net calorie goal or total calories?

I started off eating a NET of about 2100 calories and reduced down to about 1900 as I lost weight. Hit a plateau after losing 40 lbs, upped my calories to about 2300 and broke through that plateau. Eventually lost enough weight to lower my net down to about 2150, before stalling out and hitting the winter holidays this past November and December. I found it best to eat most of my exercise calories back and simply maintain the deficit built into my net calorie goal (my profile is set up so my activity level does not account for any daily exercise). I do exercise a lot and can work up a major appetite. My actual total calories on any given day varied from 2600 to 3200 depending on what I had been doing, or if I had a bad day.

Oh yeah, 37 yr old man, 6'2"....started on MFP at 283 lbs in late January 2012, got down to 206 by beginning of November 2012. Put some back on but currently at 223. In that main 9 months of 2012 (end of January to beginning November) I lost 77 lbs.