As the festive season draws to a close, we suddenly realize just how revoltingly corpulent we have become. Looking in the bathroom mirror was something we weren’t afraid of during the summer months, but as the cold weather arrived it became something that was more and more painful to do. Making merry, drinking beer and staying warm next to the fire is a lot of fun, but it takes its toll on your physique.

Not to worry, here are some ideas to shift that beer belly fast in the new year.

Beer-Belly Buster #1: Start Circuit Training

People who don’t know much about training are still stuck in the 1970s. The advice back then was for men to go on long jogs to burn as many calories as possible. But as sports science became more sophisticated over the following decades, people started to realize that steady state cardio wasn’t all that effective in driving weight down and getting rid of beer bellies.

What was effective was circuit training: alternating bouts of intense exercise with pauses in between. Anthony Yeung, CSCS advises that men try to get their heart rates up to between 130 and 150 beats per minute for 30 seconds of intense exercise, and then take a rest in between of around a minute until heart rate dips below 100 beats per minute before starting again.

Beer-Belly Buster #2: Drink Low-Calorie Beer

When it comes to getting rid of your beer belly, most of the advice out there says to cut out beer. But that’s no fun, is it? How are you supposed to have fun and relax over the holiday season?

The problem with beer is that it contains a lot of alcohol that gets converted into sugar, which then gets converted into fat and stored close to the liver. Alcohol, like sugar and fat, contains calories which are what contribute to weight gain. It’s a good idea, therefore, to drink the lowest calorie beer possible. Low calorie beers are usually marketed as “light,” meaning that you can drink more and not risk the same level of weight gain.

Beer-Belly Buster #3: Don’t Skip Meals

Keith Cormican is a dietitian from the UK. He says that skipping meals isn’t a good idea for getting rid of your beer belly. Doing so just makes people feel hungrier later on in the day, causing them to overeat at their next meal. Skipping and delaying meals increases the release of the hormone ghrelin which tends produce an emotional response that causes people to eat more high sugar, high fat junk foods. He suggests focusing your meals around vegetables and “lean protein,” by which he probably means beans.

Beer-Belly Buster #4: Lift Heavy Weights