Term Paper on "Health at Age 19"

Term Paper 5 pages (1731 words) Sources: 0

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Health

At age 19, I am a healthy female human being. However, that state of health might not last unless I make an effort throughout my life to maintain a good diet and lifestyle. This paper will outline my current health and lifestyle practices, and project into the future as well. Categories included are diet (present and prospectively), weight training activities, cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory activities, nutritional supplementation, stress management activities, spiritual activities, and social habits. However, the paper will be organized chronologically according to the decades of my life. The paper will conclude with a personal eulogy, or how I want to be remembered upon my death.

My teens have been characterized by a lack of attention paid to diet and lifestyle and I have been able to get away with eating whatever I want and not exercising. I know this may need to change to accommodate for natural biological and psychological changes. When I turn twenty and out of college, I will turn my attention more to my lifestyle because it will be necessary to do so. Teenagers have experienced a false kind of invincibility, especially when they have good genes, as I do. Genes play a major role in determining health outcomes, but lifestyle choices are also important. During my adolescence, I have not thought too much about diet and lifestyle, but in my twenties intend to stay in shape deliberately for the purposes of looking and feeling my best. It would be ideal to participate in group events for motivation and social activities as well as pure exercise. Exercising alone will not be as much fun as with groups doing things like Tough Mudda and organized sports. Depending on where I work, it may be easy to engage in team sports. The decade of my twenties will also be the time during which I am forming more meaningful intimate relationships. If I am lucky enough to find a partner who is interested in sports, then we can help keep each other healthy. By the time we both approach the age of thirty, it will become apparent how important keeping fit and healthy will continue to be. I imagine myself experimenting with yoga, pilates, and other holistic forms of exercise that keep my mind as well as body fit. In terms of diet, it will be difficult to come to terms with a gradually slowing metabolism, but as soon as I start gaining weight from not watching what I eat, I will have to cut down on processed and junk foods considerably. At this point, though, I will not need to take any nutritional supplements.

The decade of my thirties should be a time of great personal and professional development. Maintaining good health will become crucial at this stage of my life. During this decade, stress management will also become a greater need because my career will be blossoming and I will have increased responsibilities placed upon me. Additionally, I may decide to have children. Becoming a parent will alter everything about my body, mind, lifestyle, social life, and spiritual outlook. My body of course will change, as new hormones have been released and may lead to weight gain. I will need to maintain an aggressive cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory exercise regime after giving birth, to maintain my weight at a healthy level and to stay fit. It will also be advisable for me during this stage to explore weight training and strength building. If I become interested in yoga, then some forms of yoga like ashtanga can be helpful in providing strength training in addition to stress relief. Yoga is something that I intend to develop fully in my life and incorporate it into the gamut of my exercise and mental health activities. Meditation might also become important, especially as my life becomes busier by the minute. Having a child and also keeping my career in focus will require deft time management.

It will be important at this stage to become more aware of my spiritual and social lives because of the greater potential for stress. In my teens and twenties, life seemed much easier, but now, I have a career and a family to consider as well as my own life. Not being a religious person, I might still gain from engaging in community activities and volunteer work in my spare time, if I have any. This will provide me with an outward focus that prevents me from becoming too wrapped up in my own affairs. Spiritual health can also be forged by becoming active in a church, especially if my future partner is a member of a religious organization. Meditation, prayer, and other personal activities of spiritual growth and development are also helpful ways in maintaining mental and emotional health. Socially, I will start meeting new people at this stage in my life after becoming a parent. Because parents need to meet other parents, I might find myself spending less time with my single friends and more time with other parents. It will be difficult to relate to my single friends who continue to party, while it will be easier to relate to those with strong family lives.

I also intend to deepen my relationships with my family of origin during the decade of my thirties. Until now, I have taken my family for granted. In my teens and twenties, I did not have to work hard to maintain these relationships. In my thirties, I know that I do have to work harder to ensure that my parents and my siblings, as well as my cousins, are happy and healthy. If need be, I can help members of my family improve their health by sharing what I know about good dietary and exercise habits. By my late thirties, I will have a dietary and exercise regime that includes an emphasis on whole and fresh foods. I will have moved away almost entirely from processed foods, rarely if ever buying things in a package because I have a child and want that child to develop healthy habits. Cooking vegetables from scratch is not a difficult thing, and I hope to maintain a healthy diet for the rest of my life. We may eat out a few times a week, and choose restaurants that use healthy food as opposed to chain restaurants or fast food. The last time I had fast food would have been in my twenties.

When I turn forty, it will be a shock to my system. I will realize that I am not going to be young forever. My appearance starts to change. I have some wrinkles, a few gray hairs, and start to gain weight more easily. This is why it is important to exercise regularly, meditate, do yoga, and eat well. During this time, I might become frustrated with my body. Perhaps it will not respond as well as it used to, in terms of diet and exercise habits. It feels like I am working harder every day to maintain a healthy body and mind. Nevertheless, I will push through the difficult times. My family life is strong at this stage. I may find that I need to work less, in order to spend more time with my family. Watching how fast my children are growing up might trigger the sudden realization that if I do not take more time off work, I might miss their childhoods. This is why I will be able to travel with my family. Traveling during the summers with my family will be instrumental for our emotional development, and keep the family ties cohesive. I also believe my children need to be exposed to different cultures to have a healthy mindset. We will maintain our physical health by participating regularly in sports, and although the kids will have their own sports activities, we can also do some things together as a family.

As I enter the decade of my fifties, I will want to learn new things to stay feeling young and fresh. Learning diving or how to fly a plane are some of the things I can do to stay young, fit, and healthy. These are also things that my children can do with me, and which we can practice on vacations. I will be at all times cultivating a positive mindset and healthy outlook on life, regardless of whether I have chosen to become involved in a religious organization like a church. Even if I am not a member of a church, I will continue to read books that harness my spiritual powers and direct them towards continual self-improvement. My fifties will be the last decade in which I feel truly young. Once my children are grown, and I enter the decade of my sixties, it will dawn on me that I am getting older. I will need to assess whether I have done all I need to do in my life such as creative projects. Have I always wanted to write a book? If… READ MORE

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