When you decided to buy a treadmill, your heart was full of good intentions. Maybe you wanted to shed a few pounds, tighten your waistline or get in shape. So you looked around for a fitness machine that suited your needs and now it's taking up space in your garage.

Unfortunately, this is where most people give up. Some of the more determined ones actually give it a go for a week or two, but just like the others, they throw in the towel as soon as they hit their limit. And the treadmill gets buried under a mountain of clothes or is pushed behind the shelves and forgotten.

So what should you do?

Your first step should be to write down exactly what you want to achieve immediately, in the short term and also over the long haul. By writing your goals down you make them real. They will become the blueprint for a healthy new you. Your goals will also become a yardstick to measure your results by.

Once you have a map of where you want your fitness levels to be, you have a much better chance of actually getting there! You say that you wanted to lose weight, right? Well, how much weight exactly? How long have you planned to allow yourself to reach your goals? By setting clear and precise targets you are breaking down the massive task of losing weight into tiny little achievable steps.

Now this is where the rubber hits the road. Or the sports shoe hits the treadmill deck, to be precise.

The true secret to treadmill success is to start off slowly and then build up to your regular pace as your fitness and stamina grows. Too many people overdo it on their first few fitness workouts, resulting in sore muscles, stiff joints and a determination to quit!

But by warming up, stretching your muscles and loosening your joints you will exercise for longer and burn off more calories. Stick to your original targets and within a few short weeks, you will start to feel fitter and more energetic.

Roughly around this time, your initial weight loss starts to flatten out and your willpower begins to wobble. Don't be too concerned about the occasional treat, you certainly deserve it after all the effort you have put in so far. Just don't throw all your hard work away by lapsing into your old couch potato lifestyle.