As a woman ages, her chances of conceiving a child declines. By the time she turns 30, she will have lost 90 percent of her eggs. By age 40, only 3 percent remain. If you plan to wait a few years before becoming a mom, it pays to begin thinking about your fertility long before you try to conceive. You can’t reverse the natural effects of aging on your fertility, but we know there are certain factors that impact fertility potential that you can control.

CHANGE YOUR EATING AND EXERCISE HABITS FOR THE BETTER :A good start to increasing your fertility chances is to pay close attention to the foods you are eating and to make sure you are getting your daily exercise.Start an exercise program to help reach and/or maintain a healthy weight. When you are trying to conceive, added weight can be a problem. For women who are carrying extra weight, menstrual cycles may become less regular and may result in decreased ovulation. When ovulation rates decline, it reduces your chances of becoming pregnant.  On the other hand, you don’t want to be too thin either. Women who do not have enough body fat may not produce the hormones that are needed to ovulate every single month. In addition, women who are too thin can be suffering from malnutrition, and may not be healthy enough to carry the baby to full term if they do become pregnant. Eat a balanced diet. Be sure to include plenty of proteins and vitamins in your diet. Taking a daily multi-vitamin will help you to obtain all of the vitamins that you need to keep your body healthy and your hormones properly balanced. Including lots of good proteins, vegetables and fruits will help you stay healthy and strengthen the immune system. Staying well hydrated is equally important when trying to conceive. Drinking plenty of water every day will help to flush toxins out of the body, improving your overall health and thereby increasing your chances of successfully conceiving.

KICK THOSE BAD HABITS: Unhealthy habits can wreak havoc on your body. When trying to conceive, it is more important than ever to make sure your body is in the best possible shape. It can be hard to get rid of those nasty habits, but for people who are hoping to become pregnant, it can mean the difference between successfully conceiving and facing months or years of infertility.
Stop smoking as soon as possible. Everyone knows that smoking is a bad habit with an abundance of detrimental health effects. Smoking can be especially bad for a woman who is trying to become pregnant. Smoking will cause the ovaries to age more rapidly than they would naturally, and cigarettes are loaded with harmful toxins that are extremely damaging to a woman’s eggs. The sooner you stop smoking, the sooner you will begin to repair some of the damage that has been done to your reproductive system, making you more likely to successfully conceive.

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU DRINK: Having a glass of wine or an occasional alcoholic beverage from time to time is not likely to prevent you from becoming pregnant, however, if you are in the process of trying to conceive, it may be best to abstain from alcohol completely. In some women, alcohol can change the level of estrogen produced in the body, which can cause problems with egg production. Caffeine can also be a problem when trying to conceive. Limit the amount of caffeine you are taking in to just one cup of coffee in the morning. If you consume more than that, it cannot only inhibit fertility, but can also increase your chances of having an early miscarriage.

LIMIT YOUR LEVEL OF STRESS: Stress affects everyone in different ways. Some people are better at managing stress than others. For most people however, high stress levels can be very harmful to physical health, therefore affecting their chances of conception in a negative way.
If you are experiencing a lot of stress or are feeling depressed, it can have a tremendous impact on your ability to conceive. Try performing some relaxation exercises such as yoga to try to relieve some of that stress.

GET INTIMATE WITH YOUR PARTNER:  This may seem like a no brainer, but sometimes all the stresses of constantly thinking about getting pregnant can cause you to neglect your bedroom time. Regular sex can be a great stress reliever and it can also help your ovulation cycles to stay regulated.

BECOME FAMILIAR WITH YOUR MENSTRUAL CYCLE AND BIRTH CONTROL: Getting to know your body is an important step in the right direction to help increase your fertility chances. Take notice of your menstrual timeline. Pay attention to how many days you have between your periods and become familiar with the times that you are most fertile. By paying close attention to your fertile window every month, you can time intercourse accordingly and will be more likely to conceive. Regulate your menstrual cycle with hormonal birth control. Women who suffer from irregular periods often have a hormonal imbalance that can hinder fertility. Hormonal birth control can help regulate menstrual cycles and balance out hormones that are out of whack. A lot of women have the misconception that birth control is a bad thing when trying to conceive, but it can actually improve your fertility by regulating your cycle. Hormonal birth control can also stop the aging of your ovaries and slow down some dangerous fertility problems such as endometriosis.

GET TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH HIS HEALTH: When facing fertility problems, many people automatically assume it is the woman who is responsible for not being able to conceive. The woman’s health is not the only piece to the fertility puzzle. A man’s health can affect the fertility process just as much as a woman’s health. Make sure that the man is taking care of his body in the same ways that the woman is when trying to conceive in order to ensure he stays healthy and increases his fertility. Men know that they need to have a good sperm count in order to achieve a successful pregnancy, however, there are many other factors that could be hindering his ability to conceive. There are a variety of conditions that can affect male fertility, such as poor testosterone levels, physical defects, hormonal imbalance, problems with ejaculation, etc. It is important for couples who are having problems with conception to schedule a medical exam for both the man and the woman.