I took the RealAge Test this morning, which is a real eye-opening thing to do on a Monday morning. For those of you who have never heard of the RealAge Test, it is a test that uses your answers to questions about your exercise and eating habits, your health concerns and history, your family and personal relationships, and your current level of stress to determine your "real age." Your real age is not your calendar age; that is, it is not the number of years that you have been alive. Instead, it is your biological age, the age that your body really is thanks to a combination of your lifestyle choices, genetics, and medical history.
My calendar age is 32.7 years old, even though I like to just say it's 32. At my age, I don't round up anymore. Seeing as I woke up with a backache this morning, have been skimping on exercise lately, and am stressed out over the whole jobless situation, I was scared that my real age was going to be really high, like up in the grey-haired, rocking chair on the front porch, senior citizen discount on Wednesdays kind of range. The good news is it wasn't. Despite what my new forehead wrinkle may be telling me, my body is not that old yet. The bad news is my real age is still higher than my calendar age: 33.6 years old. Basically, those results mean that my body, while not ready for membership in AARP, is closer to the big 40 than the rest of me. Great.
I'll admit that I do feel old some days, like when I work up a sweat just steam cleaning the carpet, when I can't move my arms the day after cutting back vines in the backyard, or when I find out that Kelly Taylor is now West Beverly's newest guidance counselor and that Steve Urkel is on Nick at Nite. In truth, the TV things make me feel older than the sore muscles and sweat because those are things I can't change, but do they make me feel 33? I'm not really sure.
What does 33 look like these days anyway? Angelina Jolie is 33. She has six kids, an Oscar, and Brad Pitt. Do I feel that old? No, but maybe that's because I don't have six kids, an Oscar, and Brad Pitt. Eva Longoria is 33, but the character she plays on TV seems to be a lot older so I can't really relate to her either. Sure, I have neighborhood drama--just see my previous posts about the guy running down the street in his boxer shorts in the middle of the night or the dog feces in my mailbox--but nowhere near as much as Gabrielle and Wisteria Lane. My sister will be 28 in December. I definitely feel 33 when compared to my sister, but honestly I think that even my eight year old nephew feels 33 when compared to her. My sister has yet to grasp the concept of maturity, and I'm honestly not sure if she ever will.
If I want to lower my real age, RealAge.com has a plan on how to do it. The catch is, in order for the plan to work, you need to be truthful on the test. For instance, I made the mistake of checking "overactive bladder" during the health portion of the test. I do have an overactive bladder, in the sense that my bladder is the size of a pea and is thus always working. Some days all I have to do is look at a glass of water, and I have to go. It's been that way my whole life, so, as you can imagine, road trips are extremely fun. That being said, I don't think that I have the medical condition called overactive bladder like the RealAge Test assumed. Thus, I'm not so sure how it's suggestions for controlling my bladder are going to help me be or feel any younger.
The other suggestions are a lot more helpful, probably because I was a lot more truthful in answering the related questions. However, due to my current economic situation, I don't know how achievable the suggestions are. For example, RealAge.com says that I need to avoid headache triggers. Well, in order to do that, I need to get a stress free job; move to the desert, where presumably I wouldn't be allergic to everything under the sun; and do yoga or Pilates all day long. I also need to control my heartburn. I try. I always keep Tums on hand, but I think stress is the major cause of my heartburn, not food. To get rid of the heartburn, I'll have to get rid of the stress. Is a stress-free life even possible? According to RealAge.com, I need to have more friends and reach out to people. Well, I tried to increase my circle of friends, but if you've read my Cyber-Heathers post, you already know that I got shot down for it.
For the most part, I agree with RealAge.com's diet suggestions. I do need to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. It's just hard to buy those things when you only have $30 set aside for groceries. However, I can't eat more fish. I'm highly allergic to fish. When I was little, all my mother would have to do is touch me with fish oil on her hands, and I would break out in hives. I guess I'll have to buy flax seed oil capsules instead. I agree that I need to take more vitamins and exercise more. I've been saying the exact same thing for some time now; it's just a matter of getting my butt up from this desk chair and doing it.
In addition to creating a personalized plan to lower your real age, RealAge.com offers numerous articles on diet, exercise, nutrition, stress, and relationships that can help you achieve that plan. If you want to know how your lifestyle choices have impacted your own age, Take the RealAge Test! It's free!
