Eating your way to tan

Last Spring and Summer, against the advice of every health care professional in the world, I was a little obsessed with getting a good tan for my wedding in June. Not obsessed enough to go to a tanning salon, but enough to don my bikini and lay outside every day the weather allowed while Gabriel took his afternoon nap. I will admit, and I know how stupid and possibly irresponsible it is, but I did not wear sunscreen, because I didn't want to hinder myself from getting as bronzed as possible (my wedding was June 5th, so I only had about a month and a half of warm enough weather beforehand). I did have to start out laying out for only about ten minutes at first, and work my way up, to avoid getting burnt. I am not prone to getting sunburnt, but it seemed like it took me forever to get a good tan.
After all that, I swore I would follow the rules of sun protection and not put myself at unnecessary heightened risk for sun cancer by purposely trying to tan my skin. Plus I am getting to the age where I am starting to get concerned about early signs of aging, and I know the sun is one of the biggest causes of early wrinkles. I bought some 30spf and have been putting it on before I go outside to play with my son. But a few weeks ago, I noticed my skin getting all dark and glowy, and although I liked it, I wondered why it seemed to look so much better than last year when I was actually trying as hard as I could to get my skin looking great.
Then I stumbled on an article in a magazine that talked about how what you eat affects your skin, and how eating a lot of foods with carotenoids (such as carrots, tomatoes, spinach, and sweet potatoes) can not only improve your skin but give you an actual glow. I was like..."THAT'S WHAT IT IS!!!" For the past few months, I have increased my fruit and veggie intake by probably 3x what I was eating normally, in order to prepare for Summer, and also just to be healthier. Two of the veggies I have been eating the most are spinach and especially, carrots. I have been eating baby carrots like it's going out of style. So...if you want to give your skin a boost, not to mention your healthy, try to incorporate some of the veggies into your diet-it's worth it.