This is what I’ve accomplished in week 1 of this weight loss challenge:

• Initial weight: 143 pounds
• Weight after one week: 140 pounds

Weight loss in seven days: 3 pounds

I feel good about this start, so I’m going to keep the exercise going on at the same pace for the second week. If the weight loss will maintain this rate, I’ll be getting rid of the 20 pounds weight that bothers me so much in about seven weeks, which is less than two months, thus reasonable. I’ll be just ready for the summer vacation, and I’ll probably have to buy myself a new bathing suit, as the old one will have been too big for my size by then. Can’t wait to see that wonder happening!

My honest answer is that I don’t know. Losing such and such weight depends mostly on one’s determination and not solely on the gym equipment used. You can lose 20 pounds on the treadmill as well as on the elliptical bike, if you follow a consistent program of fitness routines. It is preferably to set the exercises together with a personal gym trainer, but if you can’t afford that, you can try to make your own fitness schedule that works.

This is how you could proceed: for about one or two weeks, try to allocate daily time for your fitness training. Usually, treadmills come with that personal computer which monitors several important parameters such as your heart rate, the number of calories burnt in a workout session, the distance you’ve run, according to the difficulty level your machine is set up to function.

In your program, let’s assume you want to start with ten minutes of running, on the easiest level of the treadmill. Do this for two-three days, then increase either the time or the difficulty of the exercise. After two more days, increase again. After two weeks, weigh yourself and write down your result. If it is not satisfactory, then you are doing something wrong. Adjust your exercise: increase the treadmill speed and observe your body functions while you exercise: you should feel your heart rate increasing, your heart pumping more blood and faster through your blood vessels, and when you’re done, you need to feel your muscles a bit sore. Make sure not to exhaust yourself, because in that case the exercise will have negative effects instead of helping you get rid of your 10 or 20 pounds.

After two more weeks of cardio exercise, weigh yourself again. This time you should notice improvements. If not, you should probably seek for personal fitness training advice, in order to be able to execute the routines correctly and start burning fat and not only accumulate muscles under the fat layer. My advice would be to buy a gym subscription for one-two months, get yourself a fitness trainer and discuss with him what you did and what your results were. He would probably be able to spot your mistakes and correct them, so you can go back to your home gym and exercise daily for good weight loss results.