I needed to share this because I have been getting the comment over and over...."wow, you're tan, you must have been somewhere warm." No, I wish! Or...wow, you look tan! You get my point. NO...I WISH I was somewhere warm! I've been stuck in the cold, dreary, snowy, rainy sunless state of WI for months (with a couple quick trips to central IL...pretty sure that didn't do it!) After many of these comments I finally said, wow, everyone keeps saying that to me. Some of those days I have a tiny bit of makeup on that might be a little darker than my natural skin color but its nothing new so I thought, no, can't be my makeup. Couldn't possibly be hanging outside at 3:30 in the winter with the kids for 30 min when half those days are not sunny or the sun is going down! How the heck do I look tan?
Until yesterday...when finally a couple people said it to me again and I said, no haven't been on vacation but everyone keeps asking me and one lady said...have you been eating a lot of carrots? DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!! I've been eating a ridiculously large amount of carrots lately...and sweet potatoes and squash and spinach and kale and peppers and tomatoes....Carotenoids!!! Foods rich in carotenoids help make your skin pigment darker, NATURALLY!!! Apparently it takes a couple months before you notice a change and that is exactly what happened to me.
Now, while I should have blogged about my journey all along, I kept it to myself and just shared with a few friends. I changed my way of eating to more of a "clean eating" philosophy. Cut out a lot of foods and feel unbelievably great when I eat exactly what I should. I've been following this hard core for nearly 2 months, but had increased my vegetable consumption many months before that. Carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, kale and spinach just happen to be the ones I have in the last 2 months consumed an increasing amount of! Basically I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and chicken...yes, there are a lot of other foods but those are the main staples of my diet! So...not surprising, I know have glowing skin...who knew?
I'm kind of embarrased to say that I didn't even think of that with my health background and my knowledge of healthy foods, but I guess it just never dawned on me and the fact that I look at myself every day so I don't really think my skin tone has changed. I guess its kind of cool and by no means do I have that summer tan look, but I guess my skin in a little darker and it does look pretty healthy. Now hopefully that can help protect me against getting burned in the warm summer sun. I am no fool though... I will continue to buy stock in sunscreen...better safe than sorry!
I highly recommend trying it! I mean the worst that could happen is you don't quite change your skin tone...the best...you lose a few pounds (I did!!) and get healthier in the process. Just make sure you are substituting all those veggies for some unhealthy choices! My favorite go to snack...carrots (and whatever other chopped veggies I have) and hummus!!!! low cal, high fiber, filling, delicious and full of carotenoids :)
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