Will The Sims 3 Ruin my Macbook Pro? (running on Bootcamp)

@michelleealexis  You sound more tolerant of lag than a lot of people would be.  I don't know if I could stand a 30 second delay while playing unless it was due to my running a mod-enabled cleanup or something.  Still, even if you're fine with the lag as it stands now, it could always get worse.  So it's probably worth addressing at least some of the potential causes.

First, which world are you playing in?  Some are better made than others, and a few are basically unplayable in their default state, including the otherwise lovely Isla Paradiso.  (This world, at least, is fixable.)  How long have you played this save, in terms of sim-weeks?  An exact number isn't necessary, although you can get one by hovering your mouse over the game clock, but an estimate is fine.  (This game is brand new, this is generation 4 of a legacy on long lifespans, that kind of thing.) 
 
Another potential problem is a bunch of stray animals in a world that wasn't designed for them. Baby animals can’t use stairs, so they can get stuck on community lots, and wild horses can get stuck almost anywhere.  As far as graphics settings go, the two most demanding are water and high-detail lots. Try turning those down first to see if you get an improvement; I use “mirrors only” and 2, respectively.

If you use NRaas StoryProgression, that can cause lag even on the strongest systems.  Try dialing back the pace to slow or snail.  The SP add-ons can also increase the overall load; most people can't play with all of them.  Almost all other NRaas mods are either neutral or lower the overall demands of TS3 by cleaning things up.  As for other mods, I couldn't say without knowing which ones you're using.

It’s also a good idea to test a new save in a well-made world to get a baseline for what kind of performance your computer is capable of producing. The best worlds to test are usually Sunset Valley, Twinbrook, and Riverview, but since you have Pets in play, you might test Appaloosa Plains instead, since it's the most animal-friendly of the EA worlds.

Anyway, to answer your questions, the only reason TS3 could shorten the life of your computer is if it overheats.  The monitoring app I use is hwinfo, which is easy to read and allows you to set alarms at whatever temperatures you want.  You don't even have to install it—just download the portable version and launch it from your Downloads folder (or wherever) before you start playing.  It'll list the max and average temperatures over the course of each run, starting when you open it.

https://www.hwinfo.com/download/

(Be sure to click the green download button, not the orange one.)

You could play every day without worrying; the problem is if you play for too long at a time.  How long is too long is mostly dependent on temperatures, although it's probably a good idea not to play for more than a few hours at a time before taking a break.  Stopping after an hour is probably overkill; if your laptop is overheating, it'll happen sooner than that.

The other thing that wouldn't be good for your system is having too little free space on your hard drive.  I can't tell you whether 150 GB is too little, although it wouldn't be enough for me.  How much do you have free right now?  You can click on This PC in File Explorer; you should see total and free space for the Windows side of the partition.  Again, you can get away with maybe 15 GB free, but you'll need to put off Windows feature updates, i.e. the twice yearly OS upgrades that usually break something important, until you have more like 25 GB.  The simplest way to do this is to set all your internet connections, wifi and hardwired, to metered.  Then Windows won't download any updates, not even for its antivirus software, unless you allow it manually.

As for the packs you're not using, every EP adds to the demands of the game.  But WA has a very light impact.  ITF is considered the third most demanding pack, some distance behind Seasons, although it's more stressful on the processor than the graphics card.  Showtime and UL are somewhere in the middle.  You may find that you get the best results by only running a few EPs at a time, but that will depend on what kind of performance is acceptable.  (All stuff packs are fine, all the time.)

Anyway, I'm happy to answer whatever questions you have.  Running TS3 well can involve a lot of experimentation, and some compromises, but it should be doable for someone who's thorough and pays attention to detail.