I had mentioned my lower sodium diet recently.
It turns out that I have to also keep a much closer eye on refined carbs and sugars, as well.
I had a night before the Diet/ Regimen binge last night.
Here I go again. 
Lo carb w/o daily meat?Food for Diabetics/ please no vegetables
Iād like to improve my moderately elevated cholesterol numbers (even just by improving my HDL). Iāve been focusing on increasing exercise, eating more fiber, and swapping oat milk margarine for butter where the substitution isnāt onerous. Iām also trying to eat more plant based (including tofu) and cut down on red meat. I already donāt consume much in the way of poultry skin or bacon, and most meats/poultry I eat are lean. I try to remember to take an Omega-3/fish oil supplement, multivitamin, and probiotics.
Iām planning to integrate some of the recommendations here: https://www.canihaveanothersnack.com/beans-beans-theyre-good-for-your-heart-cholesterol-101/?ref=can-i-have-another-snack-newsletter
Specifically: psyllium husk capsules, more oily fish (likely salmon), maybe Benecol, and more leafy greens and beans. Iām planning to swap almond butter for peanut butter. As some of you know, I also cook for a picky 7-year-old who loves sweets, baked goods, pasta, and processed meats. We all eat too much cheese, probably. So this should be a challenge 
Iād like to know what specific steps @mariacarmen took to lower hers!
I donāt know that I think of it as a regimen I will stick to, but Iāve shared the Omada idea for how I think about what I eat. Iām trying to include more non-fruit vegetables (i.e. not working on increasing tomatoes and peppers), and more whole grains.
I also try to maintain 60 āzone minutesā a day, and I try to be intentional when it comes to simple carbs
My wife and I are pretty much vegetable forward these days. I have cut way back on pasta, potatoes and white rice home cooking and indulge when we go out to eat. I will never stop eating good bread. We both bike and swim weekly this time of year. Biggest change though is alcohol. We treat all alcohol as a dessert now. Usually wine wins over sweets. I still bake for family and friends. The routine means we feel less weighed down after a meal and our clothes fit better. Weāve been thru ups and downs weight wise in our 41 yrs together. Moving our bodies in some form daily makes the real difference at 65.
Iām going to cut and paste from something I sent to a friend about just this question. And keep in mind, though my numbers came down somewhat in about 6 months, i was still on the high end in October, until early last month, when Iād come down to normal. So, it took me a year.
What Iāve been eating is a lot of tofu, beans, grains, and nuts. I also take a fish oil capsule every day. i eat lots of fish. i like tinned fish - mussels, canned trout, salmon, etc. (Trader Joeās has a decent and reasonable selection), with Wasa crackers. Shrimp and crab/lobster are high in cholesterol, however, so i limit those a lot.
i used to eat pork or beef 3-5 times a week. now itās more like 2-3 times a month. i eat chicken probably 3-5 times a month - and when i do, I eat the skin! Well, sometimes. Early on I probably eschewed the skin, but Iāve come back around. I eat pasta maybe once a month.
Breakfasts are mostly kefir or low fat yogurt and frozen or fresh berries, or figs, or bananas, with sprinkled flaxseed and/or chia seeds, high fiber granola, some pistachios, or any nut you like, a drizzle of honey or maple syrup, or a 1/2 tsp of sunflower seed butter (any nut butter). Very fiber-filled start to the day. But I still eat eggs because i love eggs - and eggs are once again not the culprit theyāve been made out to be.
At home, I cut out butter almost completely 
, and now rarely have it, or mayonnaise, bacon, or sausage. But when I go out, I eat just about anything - though since I love fish, iāll very often choose that over some other type of protein. Lots of dinners at home are just big salads, with a hard boiled egg for protein or canned tuna or salmon. I eat a lot of avocado. Theyāre fatty but a healthy fat. The dope on cheese nowadays is you can have some, just not a ton. i eat low-fat cottage cheese too. I did a lot of brown rice in the beginning, Iām back to white, but just small portions.
I usually make this salad on Sundays and portion it out and eat it all week for lunch. But you could just make tabouli. or substitute some other grain/bean.
(itās not really Jennifer Anistonās Salad. 
)
Iāve found that eating almost the same thing for bfast & lunch most days really helps me stick to this way of eating, even if I splurge on other meals.
For snacks, I ate a lot of popcorn the first 6 months - i found you can even pop corn with Pam butter flavored cooking spray! Lately Iāve been eating a slice of cheese at night.
Losing weight helps lower your cholesterol, so i also went VERY SMALL PORTIONS, and lost 20 lbs. I still keep portions small (lunch is usually about a half cup of that salad) but i also splurge quite a bit. Key is to just keep going right back to what you were doing. I will say i was more strict in the first 3-4 months and loosened up a bit (eating a bit more meat now, snacking on tortilla chips - but again, small portions) but i managed to lower the cholesterol and lose, and keep off, the weight since October 2023. And thatās after 3 vacations where I ate whatever the hell I wanted! 
And i was already walking at least an hour a day 3-4 days a week, maybe 2 hours on Sundays, riding my bike 6 miles a day 3 x a week, so I continued doing that, but then went back to my gym, though I have really only gone to the gym like 1 or 2 x a week and not at all consistently. I intend to go back to the gym and try to get stronger. Iād like to obviously keep my cholesterol down and lose maybe 5 more lbs. before my Oct. trip to Japan.
I cut NO BOOZE OUT. nor did i curtail. I still drink cocktails, wine, etc., usually a drink or two in the evenings, more on vacay.
As a life-long butter and pork-fat lover/gorger, Iām telling you, if I can do this, anyone can.
Good luck!
This is my issue.
I cut out most chips and a lot of desserts 11 years ago, and substituted them with cheese and sometimes cured meats as snacks.
Some pepperoni and salami seems to lead to hives, and I ran into some new issues after eating cheese straight up as a snack, so the past 6 months, I only have occasional cured meats. Maybe bacon once a month. Pepperoni on pizza maybe once a month.
Iāve been buying less cheese to eat on its own, and making things with cheese, like cauliflower cheese or mac+ cheese, rather than eating cheese as a snack.
Iāve also cut back on the grilled cheese in a big way since April.
Iāve tried switching to low fat cheese again, but I just end up eating chunks of Jarlsberg light or several BabyBel lights in a row. It doesnāt help with my moderation at all.
Interestingly, since my last drink, according to an app I am using Iāve avoided more than 300,000 cals. In that time I have gained about 5 pounds!
frustrated but healthier.
yeah a few years ago i remember cutting way down on alcohol and found i lost not one ounce in three+ months. Lifeās too short, and everything in moderation. Trite but true.
My son is on a strict regimen of ice plunges, sauna, plant/based shakes, and dinners that consist mostly of arugula, grains, and ground cooked chicken with lemon-based dressing. He insists on 160 grams of protein a day and no more. He just turned 44 and plays serious golf. I think I hate him. 
holy schnikesā¦!
Iām on the āGood Lfe (low fermentation)- low FODMAP-NASH -Mediterraneanā regimen, or at least trying. Conundrum with a capital C!
Very difficult and knowing where hubās candy and ice cream stash isnāt helping. NO willpower at all. I am not a boring food person. Time will tell, more labs 
(no labradors) later this week.
Make sure you are being tested for ApoB. Once you control for ApoB the other lipid biomarkers, LDL-C, HDL, etc lose their independent risk. And the best ways to reduce your ApoB are by replacing refined carbs with whole grains or with mono- or polyunsaturated fats. Good sleep and resistance training seem to help.
I have been making these diet choices for 18 months and have lost 50 pounds and my ApoB went from elevated risk to low risk.
I try to eat only delicious foods.
Thank you! This level id detail is helpful.
youāre welcome!
of course, what works for one person may not work for another, as we all know, but youāll find the things - the recipes, the foods, etc. - that work for you.
Not a regimen, but trying to eat more mindfully and healthfully at least when meals are home.
Some recent threads got me thinking about changing patterns rather than being restrictive ā changing order of consumption, cooking carbs in advance and reheating before eating to increase resistant starch, taking in a bit of diluted vinegar before / after meals to dampen glucose spikes, and so on.
The tricky parts for me are eating out and travel, both of which tend to be higher than for most.
Iām hoping food order can help in eating out as well as at home ā a salad, veggie starter, etc. Some cuisines and meals come naturally to this ā I went out for a pan-asian lunch today where the meal includes a salad and soup to begin. Other meals are not quite as well laid out on their own.
Extended travel and staying with family or friends is trickier, as one has to adjust within other systems. Have to make more of an effort to be mindful of my own goals.
Tonight I was about to cook pasta to accompany maitake mushrooms I picked up. Then I decided I didnāt want to pasta-load. Started with a quick salad, cooked some chicken while I ate that, and finished with some rice in the form of Korean jumeokbap (reheated from frozen, so 
on the resistant starch having increased). One day at a time
Some of the other threads I was referring to (more are linked from them):
Portion size and caloric intake(which usually go hand in hand) are my arch nemesis, but Iām working on it and can see results. Havenāt bought a bag of chips in 2 weeks as I have no self control and usually finish a bag in a day or two. My latest visit to my endocrinologist was excellent news, all my ānumbersā are in line, but he wants me to lose 8-10 lbs ,which is very doable. I need to drop the weight before my trip to Spain in a few months so I can eat all the delicious things.
Since retiring, I do the āone meal a dayā diet. Just dinner for me, although my morning coffee is non-negotiable. Sometimes Iāll get hungry a few hours before dinner, so Iāll have a stalk of celery or a raw carrot. Iām able to maintain a healthy weight and all of my numbers are good. There are mixed reviews on eating this way, but it seems to work for me. YMMV
Sunshine always eats both lunch and dinner and occasionally wants breakfast. I do not subject her to my form of dieting, she can eat whatever she wants. So, please donāt think I am starving her.
Good luck.
I will say that, when I researched it some years ago, I concluded that elevated blood cholesterol isnāt necessarily caused by eating high-cholesterol foods. This is because our livers synthesize cholesterol from basically everything we eat. So it can be frustrating when one eats ācleanā, and levels donāt drop much.
Fiber, lotsā25g/day
Exercise
Red wine
Exclude refined carbs from meals with fatsāeat F+P and C+P meals, but not F+C.
Consider an Atkins-type dietābut do not cheat!
Elevated cholesterol can also be genetic. Many French Canadians carry a gene that leads to high cholesterol, regardless of a careful diet.
