Archive for the ‘Cholesterol Diet’ Category

Did you know most people will spend more time planning their vacations, what college their kids will attend and who they will go on a date with then they do planning a healthy meal.  Having a cholesterol diet plan is extremely important part of your goal to lower your cholesterol. As you know already in order to achieve any worth while goal in life we all need a plan.  It is no different if you are trying to improve your heart health.  You need a cholesterol diet plan to ensure you can actually achieve that new lower cholesterol goal you set for yourself. Creating a cholesterol diet plan involves a few basic steps anyone can follow.  These steps assume you know your cholesterol levels are high.

Tip number one:  Identify your current eating habits.

Tip number two:  Identify what cholesterol is & why too much cholesterol is dangerous for you.  Take some time to learn as much as you can about cholesterol and heart disease.

Tip number three:  Be realistic do not start making changes in your life you can not sustain.  Start off making a few basic changes with a time table that gradually introduces new changes into your current lifestyle.

Tip number four: Document your progress. With your busy schedule do not try to memorize what you did last week, document it.  This way you will have a record of what you have done, what has helped for you and what has not been helpful.  You can use photos, a journal, blog, etc to document your progress.

Tip number five: Share your plan, tell your family and friends about your cholesterol diet plan. Solicit help from those closest to you whose opinion and advice you respect. 

Their help and support may surprise and comfort you. Tip number six:  You need to start exercising to help your heart, lower your heart attack risk and to improve your overall health. One last thing, remember that it is OK if you have to change your plan from time to time.  Plans are modified all the time you may have changes at work, family issues to deal with etc. 

The point is to get back on track ASAP and to stick with your cholesterol diet plan. Your health, overall well being and happiness will be greatly improved when you achieve your cholesterol lowering goal.

High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease and lowering your cholesterol will require a serious diet change on your part.  No Fad diet is going to lower your cholesterol long term.  A serious cholesterol lowering diet shouldn’t be treated like the fad of the month it is too important an issue to play around with.  Improving your health is critical to your well being long term.

At some time in your life you may have vowed to change one or more aspects of your life for the better.  Some of those promises you were able to achieve and others you were not able to achieve.  But your goal to lower your cholesterol is one change you’ve got to make happen because 1) you can do it and 2) your long term health depends on it.

The first step you need to do to lower your high cholesterol is to take an honest look at what you currently eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Ask yourself, how much of what you eat consist of fat laddened foods, fried foods and processed foods (50%, 80%, 20%)?

If your guesstimate is greater than 50% you need to make some serious changes in your eating habits.  Hey, hey don’t run into the kitchen and start tossing out stuff right this moment.  Come back here and finish reading this first.  That kind of knee jerk reaction could backfire.

Knee jerk reactions do not always produce the best results, so instead take your time.  Take some time to identify what in your current diet is adding to your high cholesterol levels.  Do you like to eat a lot of fast foods or heavily processed foods?  You know burgers and fries, chips, pastries, cakes, butter, eggs, cheese, greasy sauces and processed meats, etc.?

If so it is time to rethink about whether or not those foods are going to stay in your diet plans.  Why, because together with your bodys’ natural cholesterol producing ability these foods are pushing your cholesterol level higher.

Many of the above mentioned foods contain high levels of saturated fats which raise your cholesterol with every bite you take.  I know they taste great but they are not less filling.  Not only do saturated fats help to fill your arteries with increased cholesterol but, they also add to your waist line.

There in lies the concern about your cholesterol lowering efforts taking on the appearance of a fad.  If you only cut out the foods contributing to your increased cholesterol level for a few weeks, than you are going to find yourself on the fad treadmill.

However, if you take the time to learn more about cholesterol, what it is, how it affects you and how you can prepare healthier meals.  Well now you are on a long term path to a lower cholesterol level and a healthier body overall.

How do you avoid the fad method to lowering your cholesterol?  First you honestly look at your current eating habits.  Next you learn as much as you can about healthy food choices and then you commit to a steady long term plan to lower your high cholesterol.