You Can't Hide From It, So Embrace It Safely!

I am sure all of you are extremely tired from the mundane/routine tasks you completed all week... I know I am. Weekends are a perfectly way to unwind from these 5 hectic days from hell. Seeing friends, sleeping, pampering yourself, all fall into that category. Another great way to completely unwind while obtaining some health benefits is by sun tanning.

I know exactly what you're thinking... "I thought sun-tanning was bad for us"... "Um excuse me, skin cancer!"... "When I go outside I use SPF 100 because I don't want to risk it"... "WRINKLES!"...

(One Big Ball of Concentrated Skin Cancer & Vitamin D! ha ha)

Yes, all of those things can result from sun-tanning... but that's why I am here to tell you how to tan safely and reap the benefits that come with basking in it!

First things first... if you want a golden tint... go outside for it! Never ever use a tanning bed! In tanning beds the only UV rays available are UVA rays which cause the most damage (while also giving you that bronzed glow... or red as a lobster look). Plus when you are laying in a tanning booth completely nude, the distance between the rays and your body is quite close - tanning beds are 2 to 3 times MORE POWERFUL than UVA rays from the sun... Thus more rays are absorbed into your body. What happens when these rays are soaked up? Well they do a number to your immune system (weaken it) which means you are more susceptible to getting skin cancer. Yikes!

When you're outside both UVA and UVB rays are present... which means the risk of getting skin cancer is there as well because two powerful rays are being absorbed into your body... No wonder there are so many sun block brands with high SPFs - getting skin cancer is rather easy!

So what can you do to make sure you are not part of the statistic (of those who get skin cancer per year)? This may come as a shock to you but for the first ten minutes of being outside, wear no sun screen at all... This way you obtain an ample amount of Vitamin D which is one of the vitamins most every American is deficient in. Vitamin D is a "wonder drug" and new findings keep supplying more information in it's favor.

After those health boosting ten minutes though, slather on some SPF 35 and reapply it every 2 hours!! This is hard to remember because some either fall asleep outside or get too involved in the Frisbee game... that's why perhaps you should turn on the timer on your cell phone - anything to get you to remember to reapply that sun screen!

Now I won't lie to you - I am pretty bad at putting sun screen on myself... but I have definitely paid for it and will try my best this summer to keep up a healthy sun screen routine!

Who's with me?

PS: HAPPY WEEKEND!!!