Lifestyle

There used to be this huge debate among social scientists about which influence had more of an impact on a person; nature, or nurture. In more recent years, pretty much everyone has accepted that people are impacted by a combination of both, and it can be hard to say which influence is stronger in a given person.

In my Adult Development and Aging class (yes, I have to take it), we were talking today about the biological effects of aging. It was honestly really depressing. The textbook is set up in such a way that it's like reading, "when you get old, your life is going to suck and there's nothing you can do about it!"

I definitely disagree with that way of thinking. And while I'm aware that there is little that I can do to prevent certain primary functions of aging, such as menopause and certain health things, I also really believe that what I do NOW in my life is going to have an impact when I'm older.

For this reason, I go to the gym for an hour three times a week, and I run three times a week. For breakfast every morning, I have a green smoothie packed with fruits and vegetables. I have certain nutrition goals for myself like, no treats for most of the days of the week, and eat six servings of fruits and veggies every day. I don't smoke, drink or do drugs (except for Aleve. IUD's really hurt sometimes!). I also go to bed between 9:00 and 10:00 every night and get up between 6:00 and 7:00.

I do all of this to keep my body healthy and strong, and to get (and stay) in the habit of having a good lifestyle NOW so that when my body does start to slow down, I will already be in those habits. This doesn't just apply to when I'm old. Someday, I'm going to be pregnant. And I'm fairly certain that there are aspect of pregnancy that are going to be really hard. So my thought process is that if I'm doing these important things now when it's not hard, then maybe I'll still be able to do them (even if it's on a smaller scale) when I'm pregnant and it's really hard.

Because I don't really care what people say. I think that a healthy, active lifestyle can make a difference in pregnancy, labor, and aging.