With the holiday season in full swing, it’s not hard to imagine how much extra calories are ingested and weight that is put on. But that doesn’t mean there is no hope in shaving off the added weight. In fact, according to a recent study, the time of day you choose to work out can significantly impact your weight loss regimen.

A new study published in The Journal of Physiology and conducted in Australia claims that exercising before breakfast is the best way to get fit. Running or cycling in the morning, the study results say, will significantly lessen the ill effects of holiday munching.

Researchers in Belgium recruited 28 healthy young men and put them on a lousy diet that composed of 50 percent more fat and 30 percent extra calories, than their control group. Two experimental groups worked out four times a week in the mornings, running, and cycling intensely, while one group agreed not to exercise for six weeks. Two sessions lasted ninety minutes, while others lasted an hour. This experiment lasted for six weeks.

Breakfast intake in the morning was not supervised. Of the two groups that were exercising, one group consumed carbohydrate-rich breakfasts before exercising and continued to take in carbs through sports drinks during their workouts. The other group worked out without eating anything first and only drank water during their training, making up for their lack of food at breakfast later in the morning.

The experiment lasted for six weeks, and researchers found that the non-exercising group, r the control, had gained six pounds in six weeks and developed insulin resistance. The men who ate breakfast before exercising gained weight, however the men who didn’t, gained no weight and showed no signs of insulin resistance. They also burned the extra calories they were consuming more efficiently.

“Our current data,” the study’s authors wrote, “indicate that exercise training in the fasted state is more effective than exercise in the carbohydrate-fed state to stimulate glucose tolerance despite a hypercaloric high-fat diet.”

One apparent downside to this at that for some individuals they may have a lackluster workout experience because they lack energy to workout. However, exercising before breakfast, in a fasted state, helps the body burn off more fat and maintains weight from a vigorous exercise routine.