WE KNOW IT’S THE HOLIDAYS, SO NOBODY’S EXPECTING YOU TO WORK OUT four days a week as usual or to keep up your low-carb diet in the face of Mom’s stuffing and bowls of figgy pudding (or whatever your abkilling family serves). However, we do expect–no, demand–that you lose five pounds this season anyway. And when you see how simple it is, your holidays (and post-holiday season) are sure to be a lot happier.

Notice I said simple, not easy. Most fitness magazines sell you short around the holidays. They figure you’re not going to have much time to work out between shopping sprees and snow shoveling, so they prescribe wussy workouts designed to help you “maintain” the shape you’re in while stress, traveling, and food take their inevitable toll. But we’re not letting you off that easy, and you’ll thank us for it in the New Year.

Consider this: The average American gains more than 10 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. As a trainer, I’ve lost track of how many people I’ve seen every January who are struggling to get back into their November shape. Their New Year’s resolution is always to drop 10 pounds–but it’s the same 10 pounds they just gained in the last two months! Now imagine being able to lose five pounds in that same time frame. By my calculations, that will make you 15 pounds leaner than your co-workers when you head back to the office on January 2.

But to take off that weight, you must do more than just maintain–you need to make gains. While our Holiday Survival Workout promises to be one of the most physically taxing regimens you’ve ever tried, it’s also one of the shortest and most flexible timewise. Furthermore, you won’t even have to curb your gluttonous feasting to reap the benefits. So grit your teeth, and give it a try.