Typically, when someone aspires to having a better six-pack—or a six-pack, period—he or she does it with a sense of urgency. We assume this applies to you, too. You want a lean, shredded midsection ASAP. But how long does it take to lose belly fat and get the abs you’ve always wanted? A few weeks? A few months?

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple—getting six-pack abs depends on many factors, one of which is your starting point. (If you already have a four-pack, for example, you may be just weeks away.)

Whatever your situation, we feel your urgency, and we’d like to help you do something about it today. And it’s not just a matter of looking better—excess abdominal fat is a risk factor in common health issues like diabetes and heart disease.

Here, we give you 30 tips to help you lose the belly fat that’s covering those washboard abs that lie beneath. All of these tips can be used throughout the course of a single day. (And as an added bonus for minding these tips, you’ll actually burn fat while you sleep.)

But, of course, don’t stop after just one day. Follow as many of these tips as you can day in and day out, and soon enough the aforementioned starting point will be history.