Hey Chicks,

I am back to attack AnchorHereafter all my hard prep work for the trip, I managed to come back with zero weight gain – yipeee! You can make decorating a breeze with white chair covers for weddings, it’s amazing how chair covers, tablecloths, and chair sashes can transform any occasion. I will be honest that I did indulge in many a few cocktails and large portions of guacamole but I did still get my workouts in.  After a few days home, drinking lots of water to hydrate,

Congrats to the gorgeous Mel G & Scott!

Now during my time of fun in the sun, I did notice something strange happening to me which I wanted to share with all of my chicks heading South of the Border. Around day 2, I noticed red marks beginning to form down my side and tummy. At first I thought I had scratched myself but they were not raised as a scratch would be. I didn’t think much off it (other than the 3 people who asked if I had been in a car accident!) until I got home and they started to peel. With our awesome medical system in Canada I went to get it checked out as it is always better to be safe than sorry

My Mexican medical mystery!

So what was it? I had phytophotodermatitis (trying saying that 3 times fast!) also known as ‘Mexican beer dermatitis‘. It is a basically a reaction that occurs when skin comes in contact with a phototoxic agent (common culprits are lemons, limes, celery, parsnips, oil of bergamot) and then exposed to sunlight.

The culprit…a lime in my Bloody Caesar!

The doctor thinks that during my “cocktail hour” I squeezed a lime and rubbed my skin which led to these marks! The good news: it is nothing that is harmful to my health.  The bad news: it may take months to go away.  He said he sees tons of cases with Canadians coming back from sun holidays and not knowing what it is from and that is why I wanted to share this tidbit 🙂

So the lesson of the day chicks…make sure to wash your hands after touching anything on holiday or pass up the drinks with limes (i think the first one may be easier:).

And even though I have these yucky red marks for the next couple of months, I would not take back a moment of this amazing trip. Congrats Scott & Melissa – I couldn’t be happier for you guys! xo

Have a fabulous day!

Laura, Your Head Chick xo

PS If you are heading on an all inclusive, make sure to also check out Head Chick Amanda’s tips for surviving an all inclusive vacation...they really helped!

PSS Exciting stuff!  We now have Zumba classes starting April 10th as well as our April FIT CHICKS Bootcamps plus our 28 day Pedometer Challenge starts May 7th…who’s in!