Creating a Mario-style life counter

[Seiryu33]

My problem is a bit complex. Basically my project uses a 1-up system similar to Mario's but loses lives when the healthbar depletes or the player falls into a pit. I've gotten as far as setting up the player's death sequence but I'm a little unclear about how to setup a life counter.  What's the most effective way to create one or any counter for that matter?

[djaydino]

a simple int add / int deduct? and check if that int is 0 for game over

if you have a "grow" mushroom like thing and can be damaged 2x you can also do that with an int