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!

I think tanning helps define more muscle tone...I mean isnt that why those body builders put that brown stuff on them before they compete?

i could be wrong lol....but i dont think tanning would burn much calories. I mean your just laying there.

[=.

well actually i go in stand up tanning booths, so does that make a difference? lol i'm sure it burns something because you are sweating, but probably not anything significant! thanks for the help though! :)

 anyone else have any input?

Nah it's like the sauna myth.. just because you're sweating doesn't mean you're burning any more calories than you normally would by just standing there. Any weight you would lose is just water weight. 

Tanning does damage the skin so any sort of recovery that your skin makes (including the creation of melanin) might burn some calories. 

Tanning creates Vitamin D in your system and the dairy companies have made a big fuss over an increase in D and Calcium helping with weight loss.

All things considered though, I wouldn't count on it.  We're talking a fairly small number of calories and you'd be better off eating some low fat yogurt or drinking a glass of skim milk.

i run on a treadmill everyday 3.5-7 miles a day, depending on what i feel up to... im not depending on tanning to burn calories, i was just curious if it actually did burn any... i think tanning makes you LOOK a bit skinnier though :)

damn i thought saunas really burned calories! haha boy am i stupid....

Yeah it totally does make you look skinnier, adds the illusion of more contours and definition, and in general wearing darker colours makes you appear thinner, so same thing if your skin is darker. 

Saunas and hot yoga are two of the biggest myths out there! Not saying that either of them are bad (they're both good but for other reasons), but you don't burn as many calories as you think you do...

... and now I want to go tanning. :(

i love being white skinned [= lol .

double post.

oh my god.. a guy i used to work with lives in the city and he used to do that hot yoga thing and he like SWORE by it... he would always come in to work the day after saying that he lost like 10 lbs. last night and i was like hmmm.. if thats the case than sign me up! lol... go tanning, it's good for you! :) lol not really, but it makes me feel better sometimes!

If you could see the giant gaping hole my father-in-law has in his face due to skin cancer, you would become preferential to fake tans ....

It's really gross. Trust me.

I dont think she cares about getting skin cancer if she tans year round. Shes kinda askin for it so leave her to her tanning!

Jenn was just giving a precaution...theres nothing wrong with that. [= .

Its better to know then to not know.

Original Post by kmferrari:

oh my god.. a guy i used to work with lives in the city and he used to do that hot yoga thing and he like SWORE by it... he would always come in to work the day after saying that he lost like 10 lbs. last night and i was like hmmm.. if thats the case than sign me up! lol... go tanning, it's good for you! :) lol not really, but it makes me feel better sometimes!

 "hot" yoga burns calories depending on the intensity of the practice. The only reason for the heat is to help stretch the yogi's muscles.

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...

km- if someone that works at a tanning place said that it burns cals--they are trying to sell packages.  Watch with the tanning-I used to be so obsessed I actually worked 3-5 hours a week at a place for free tans!!! I went to college  in a very cold town and LOVED just going in there getting toasty warm oh the memories.  I just use self tanner now (there are some good enexpensive ones out there) and 8-15SPF in the summer.

Sorry, it's just that I can't keep my mouth shut, knowing what my father-in-law has gone through with his skin cancer .... and his isn't even the malignant kind that'll kill you... it's just the disfiguring kind that leaves gaping bloody holes in your face. Sure, maybe you don't mind wrinkly, leathery skin.... but bloody gaping holes???

He did have reconstruction, left a frankenstein-like scar across his cheek... better than looking at bloody, gaping, oozing holes... but then the skin cancer just came back again, and now there's a new hole right by his nose, like a third nostril, except bloody and oozing.

IF you care about your appearances (and obviously you do), you would never, ever tan like this... you'd use self-tanners instead.

I agree with jenmcc, tanning is not something to do if you care about your long term appernce, skin cancer isn't at all attractive, and can be incredibly deadly and fast acting. (plus wrinkles - once people start getting around 27, the people who tanned really start looking older than their age around thier eyes)

I'd sooner be a little pale while alive, because you sure don't have a tan while getting chemo or when you are six feet under.