"Where do you see yourself in five years?" This standard job interview question often gets minds churning. Continuing education or training can help you meet your career goals. But, beyond career aspirations, your long-term plans may include building a family. This requires some self-care planning and actions to protect your fertility.

What you can do now
There are steps you can take now to protect your fertility for the years to come:

1. Reach or maintain a healthy weight. Weighing too much - or too little - may affect fertility. Weight impacts the body's ability to produce the hormone estrogen. If you are:

• Overweight, too much estrogen may be produced. As a result, you may not ovulate or ovulation may be irregular.
• Underweight, your body may not be able to make enough estrogen to trigger ovulation. Ovulation is needed for pregnancy to occur naturally.

It's best to get your weight in check before you become pregnant. To achieve a healthy weight:

• Get up to 30 to 60 minutes of exercise most days of the week. Talk to your doctor before you start or increase your activity level.
• Eat a diet rich in produce, whole grains, lean protein and low-fat or nonfat dairy. Limit foods high in fat, salt and cholesterol.

2. Practice safe sex. Some sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) can affect fertility.

For example, chlamydia and gonorrhea can lead to a condition called pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID is inflammation of the fallopian tubes, ovaries or other reproductive organs. PID causes scar tissue to build up and possibly block the fallopian tubes. This can stop sperm from meeting the egg or prevent the fertilized egg from reaching the uterus for implantation. This may also cause an ectopic pregnancy. That's when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus (usually in a fallopian tube). PID causes infertility in one out of every five women who has it.

To lower your risk for PID and other STDs:

• Use a condom every time you have vaginal, oral or anal sex.
• Limit sexual partners. The more partners you have, the higher your risk. Ask about your partner's sexual history, too.
• If you are in a monogamous relationship, you and your partner should get tested for STDs before you have sex without a condom.
• Get immunized. Immunizations may help prevent hepatitis B and human papillomavirus (HPV).
• Get regular check-ups for STDs. STDs do not always have symptoms so you might not know that you have one.

3. See your doctor regularly. Visit your doctor once each year for your annual gynecologic exam. Ask about birth control methods, too, if desired.

Your annual pelvic exam and Pap test is critical to your overall health. Experts advise that women start having annual exams within three years of becoming sexually active or by age 21. Pelvic exams can help detect many women's health problems. This includes cancer, STDs and other factors that contribute to infertility. A Pap test is used to check for cervical cancer.

4. Do not smoke. If you do, quit. Smoking cigarettes is connected to infertility, miscarriages and some birth defects along with lung cancer and other major illnesses. The chemicals in cigarettes are harmful to ovaries and eggs. They also interfere with the body's ability to make estrogen. The longer a woman has been smoking, the greater her risk. Even if you have been smoking for years, stopping now can improve your health.

Watch your biological clock
Keep in mind that fertility declines with age. It starts to decrease in your late twenties and early thirties. It drops off more rapidly after age 35. A healthy 30-year-old woman has about a 20 percent chance of getting pregnant each cycle. But a healthy 40-year-old woman only has about a 5 percent chance.

When you are ready
A visit to your doctor is essential before you get pregnant. Your doctor will likely:

• Prescribe prenatal vitamins
• Suggest immunizations
• Offer tips for conceiving
• Let you know how you can prepare your body for your baby