does TANNING burn calories??

okay, so i'm one of those people who HAS to be tan year round lol i just HATE looking too "pale".

i was talking to someone who used to manage a tanning salon and she told me that tanning actually burns some calories and helps you lose weight - is this true?

if so, how many calories does it burn per 8 minute session?

i know this sounds stupid, but i'm curious!

why dont you use the spray on tans instead????

It's just awful.... young kids run away from my FIL in fear... he looks that bad....

And when we have him over for dinner, I have to throw away the cloth napkin he uses, because by the end of dinner it'll be covered in blood....

I wish I could post his photo - it would convince you to use spray-on tans from now on - but he won't let anyone take his photo. :-(

We really hoped the reconstruction last year was going to fix it all... but it's a year later and it's back. So sad. :-(

jen- i understand what you are saying and i appreciate your words of warning, and i am deeply sorry for what your father in law has to go through day in and day out.  i'm not arguing with you that it's bad for me, that's a given.  but i don't go everyday and i tan easily.

also, i dont use self tanners because they are spotty and orangy.

 jenny- what kind of good expensive self tanning lotions do you know of?

Yay for self tanner! It takes less time than driving to the salon (do it at home in 10 minutes after a shower) no one can tell the difference once you get good at applying it and find a brand that works for you and you won't end up all wrinkly and spotted later on.

Jen, I know where you're coming from. Skin cancer runs in my family and it is terrifying. I wear SPF 45 on my face everyday and religiously wear sunscreen on exposed skin. 

P.S. To answer the original question - tanning probably doesn't burn any calories. But twisting your body all over the place to apply and rub in self tanner might! 

Has anyone tried any self tanners that actually don't smell gross and don't make you turn orange? And ones that fade evenly? The one time I tried one (it was Clinique), it faded more slowly on my elbows and knees (dry spots) so I looked like I had dirty elbows and knees for about a week... it was lovely. No amount of exfoliating helped.

P.S. Please don't recommend Jergens and those other moisturizers that gradually build a tan... they smell funny too.

babyd- they all smell the same becuse they all have the self tanner crap in it which, unfortunately, smells disgusting lol... i havent found any yet that smell good or are just unscented.. even ones that claim to be unscented are definately not!

*sigh* I know, I think I'll just give up my search for now.

I wouldn't fake n bake if we had more sun, but I live in Canada... right now I get to work when it's dark (8:30am) and I leave when it's dark (5pm), so no sunlight for me. If I don't get SOME sunlight I'm not a pleasant person! LOL

I'm not advocating spending 20 minutes a day in a tanning bed, and I know my risk for skin cancer is increased tenfold by fake n baking, but I don't go overboard. I just like a hint of color. As for the repercussions, well I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Dammit I'm Mediterranean! I was made to be in the sun! :P

I worked at a high-end tanning salon for 3 years. Trust me...TANNING DOES NOT BURN CALORIES. You are simply sitting in a bed that consists of UV lights for 20 or so minutes. All the while your cells deep in the layers of your skin are being stripped of their nutrients and damaged for the rest of your life.

In those 20 or so minutes spent tanning, there are thousands of other things you could be doing that burn calories. But hey, if being tan all year is more important then go for it.

babyd- thats how i am, i need some color or i go nuts... its sunny here in new jersey, but oh boyyyyyyyy is it freakin freezing! lol i'm mostly sicilian, so i need sunlight lol

i know it's not the best for your skin, but i dont go crazy with it...

if i find any self tanners that dont smell like crap, ill let ya know lol

Original Post by kmferrari:

i dont tan EVERYDAY year round, i just keep myself with at least a base tan because i don't like to be very white, nothing wrong with that...

Even infrequent tanning causes damage to your skin:

In 1994, a Swedish study found that women 18-30 years old who visited tanning parlors 10 times or more a year had seven times greater incidence of melanoma than women who did not use tanning salons. 

From: http://www.skincancer.org/artificial/index.ph p

My dermatologist says if you use tanning beds more than a couple times a year, you WILL get melanoma eventually.

Tan fat looks better than white fat, but self-tanners are pretty good these days and don't cause cancer. You can go to the spray-on salons that ensure an even color.

if you're looking for a self tanner that doesn't smell bad nivea's gradual self tanner is fantastic. It smells so so good. i love it. it doesn't smell like the rest of nivea's old lady scented (no offense to older women, i just associate the smell with someone not my age) products. definetly worth a trip to walgreens to at least take a whiff. I get a noticable tan in just one use, however two uses in a row is better. 

Naminasti Yoga or Hot Yoga does burn calories. The heat is used to flush the system of impurities, to help obtain deeper streches and to stimulate different engergies...

If you are in the stand up booth with yoga intensity and positions you would be burning more calories... look into it.

Tanning booths are much much safer as far as skin cancer goes then sitting in the sun... Most of the time people who use taning booths do not burn, it is the burning that causes the most cellular damage and increases the risk of cancer... NOT being Tan.

If your skin can tan and if you obtain your tan gradualy without burning their is NO harm in it.

Recently it has been realized that americans don't get enough sun anyway as a result many of us are vit D deficient. Sun light is needed to process that vitamen. So Tan away, but in moderation and with care. Oh you CAN burn in a booth... it just isn't the Goal. Also think about it ladies if everyone who used tanning beds got cancer wouldn't their be ALOT more people with cancer?? It doesn't make sence rationaly and it simply isn't true. Unless you are sitting in the bed long enough to burn several times a year you are NOT at any more risk.

Original Post by lilsmiter:

Naminasti Yoga or Hot Yoga does burn calories. The heat is used to flush the system of impurities, to help obtain deeper streches and to stimulate different engergies...

If you are in the stand up booth with yoga intensity and positions you would be burning more calories... look into it.

Tanning booths are much much safer as far as skin cancer goes then sitting in the sun... Most of the time people who use taning booths do not burn, it is the burning that causes the most cellular damage and increases the risk of cancer... NOT being Tan.

If your skin can tan and if you obtain your tan gradualy without burning their is NO harm in it.

Recently it has been realized that americans don't get enough sun anyway as a result many of us are vit D deficient. Sun light is needed to process that vitamen. So Tan away, but in moderation and with care. Oh you CAN burn in a booth... it just isn't the Goal. Also think about it ladies if everyone who used tanning beds got cancer wouldn't their be ALOT more people with cancer?? It doesn't make sence rationaly and it simply isn't true. Unless you are sitting in the bed long enough to burn several times a year you are NOT at any more risk.

And, from the same website I quoted above:

The tanning industry relies on two misleading arguments: first, that since melanoma is mainly caused by sunburn, "controlled" tanning helps prevent melanoma by building up the protective pigment melanin; second, that UV exposure makes the skin produce vitamin D, which helps prevent breast, prostate and colon cancer, as well as other diseases.

Medical experts refute these arguments.  They point out that our diet (especially vitamin D-rich foods such as dairy products and salmon) generally provides all the vitamin D we need.  Furthermore, tanning to increase melanin is counterproductive.  Tanning, like burning, causes genetic damage to skin cells.  "You can't protect the skin by damaging it," said James M. Spencer, MD, director of dermatologic surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.  "Tanning not only increases the risk for melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma, but accelerates skin aging."

 

I'm sure it's right that you will definitely lose weight as a consequence of using tanning beds/booths. 

When you're throwing up and have no appetite due to the chemotherapy to try to cure the cancer you will eventually get, then you'll certainly lose weight!

If you put false tan on before bed, sleep in old cotton pj's then shower in the morning, you will not smell bad but you will have a lovely colour. Far better to have soft supple tan coloured skin than to have leathery tough tanned skin with holes from melanomas.

i know the cautions and reprecussions of tanning.. i simply asked if it was true that it burns calories

I liked that people posted the cautions and reprecussions of tanning....

Kmf...you got your answer plus some more :) When you post in these forums you are bound to get peoples opinions, facts, stories....pretty much anything. 

So if being tanned makes you look thinner/toned then does that means that dark toned people looks thin/toned than their fairer-toned counterparts?
I am medium skinned and somehow feels so much better about my self!!!

I tried to post this link, and it wouldn't post...

Google "Glamour magazine do's and don'ts" ... then click on "Worst don'ts"...

Yeah, she sure looks thin.

i mnot saying people cant say what they want, i was just stating that i already know these things lol im sure we all do things that aren't exactly the best for us....