Read more: Local, Health, Strange, Lollipop Diet, Dr. Rina Shinn, Adonis Aesthetics, Pueblo, Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain, Avoid Holiday Weight Gain, Eating Healthy, How to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain, Power Pops, Hoodia, B12, B6, Alison Asbury

Cakes, cookies and holiday treats can be difficult to resist when wanting to let loose during the holiday season. Dr. Rina Shinn of Adonis Aesthetics shared a few tips to help keep the extra pounds off and your weight maintained.
PUEBLO –
A gallon of water a day
“None of the fast trick diets are going to help you, so the key is drinking water,” Shinn said. “Water has to be there in order to dissolve the fat, so no water, no fat lost. It’s as simple as that.”

Dr. Shinn suggested, for those who aren’t habitual water drinkers, keep palettes of  water bottles in easy-to-reach places like your bedside table, passenger seat of the car (not the trunk or you’ll forget them!) and in your office. But, she said not to drink during meals.

“Don’t drink with the meal because it’ll dilute your digestive enzymes and impede digestion. Drink all the water, about a gallon a day in between meals, before and after, but not during the meals.”

Eat small meals often
“When you get up in the morning, it’s so tempting to just get out the house because you’re busy and you don’t have the chance to eat breakfast,” Shinn said. “But you have to eat a small breakfast. That’s the key. Sometimes having a little oatmeal with hot water or milk; that’s good enough.”

Eating as often as six small meals a day can help keep the weight off, as long as you’re eating healthy foods. Chewing slowly will help you realize when you’re full.

Supplement “regular” feast foods with alternatives
Dr. Shinn suggested trying foods like mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes, fresh cranberries with orange and lemon instead of the sugary, canned variety and edamame as a party food instead of shrimp. She said to keep fruits like Gala apples and Cuties in your bag and at your desk to avoid snacking, and not to eat tropical fruits like bananas and pineapples because of the high calories. Also, even supposedly healthy foods like whole grain bread aren’t always healthy.

“If the second ingredient is sugar, you’re actually eating more sugar than anything else. Stick with the artisan bread in the bakery section. Read where the sugar falls in there,” Shinn said. “If you eat it and it’s sweet, it has too much sugar in it.”

The lollipop diet
Dr. Shinn said if you’re still hungry, consider trying Power Pops. They’re lollipops with vitamins and supplements like Hoodia, B6 and B12 in them, geared to suppress appetites.

“Obviously we don’t suggest people have more than three per day and this is just to help you with the curving of the appetite. Not to be a meal substitue and not to eat all the time, so it’s fairly natural and much better alternative than taking the diet pills or speed medications,” Shinn said. “But, if you take three per day with plenty of water, 30 minutes before eating meals, it’ll curb your appetite so when you’re eating small amounts of the food, you don’t feel hungry.”

Shinn sells the lollipops for $1.50 a piece at her clinic, Adonis Aesthetics.