Secrets For Lowering Cholesterol - More Heart-Healthy Food
4. Get more appealing heart-healthy food in your
kitchen. If you make health food more attractive and
visible, you are more likely to reach for it when you are
hungry. Buy some nice hanging bowls for your citrus
fruits and vegetables instead of hiding them in your
crisper. Covered mesh containers are also available for
fruits. These containers permit fruits to ripen and stay
visible whilst preventing fruit flies.
5. Consider taking a cooking class for improving
your heart’s health. Many community centres and cooking
schools offer cost-effective cooking classes in
cholesterol-friendly and heart-healthy food. This can be
an excellent way to make healthy eating fun, especially
if you feel out of place in a kitchen.
You will learn many recipes and cooking tips for
heart-healthy eating, and have the opportunity to spend
time with others who are concerned about their heart
health. Plus, once you learn to cook healthy and
delicious meals, you may find that you enjoy cooking and
prefer the taste of healthy low-fat food even more so!
6. Plan your cholesterol-lowering meal every
once a week. Most of us plan our days and our finances,
but we often leave eating to chance. This can make heart-healthy eating more difficult for you.
After a long day working, it can be too daunting
to come up with a menu and then cook a meal from scratch.
Choose a day per week to plan your entire eating menu and
then go shopping for the ingredients you will need for the coming week and so on.
This will ensure that you have all the fresh
ingredients and healthy meal ideas that you need, so
there is no excuse to turn to convenience food.
7. Get some help in the kitchen. Whether you get
help from a roommate, child, or a spouse, cooking with someone else makes it more fun. If you don’t have anyone
to help you, find some way to make cooking time fun.
Listen to music or watch a nice movie on a portable DVD player as you cook. You will find cooking time flying by
as you prepare nutritious and cholesterol-lowering meals for yourself.
8. Try to socialize without food. Many of us ingest excess calories and fat when we eat out with others. This is even more of a problem since we often
equate sociable moments with eating : we meet friends at restaurants, coffee shops, and pubs or we have movie nights that include take-out pizza.
Over the next 30 days, make it a habit to meet your friends at places that don’t serve food as a major entertainment. Meet friends at the gym, on hiking trails, or at home rather than in restaurants or cafes.
9. Get motivated. Beginning a low-fat diet to lower your cholesterol is often not the hard part of it. The hard part is staying motivated to keep the diet plan working for weeks. Find ways to get yourself motivated to eat well. For many of us, fear is a great motivator.
If you have a very high cholesterol level, consider pinning your level and a list of the dangers of high cholesterol on your fridge. Or, try to find a really graphic picture of clogged arteries or some cholesterol health hazard you fear and put it up on your fridge. You can also make a bet with a friend or family member that will make you lose money each time you cheat on your diet.
10. Make heart healthy food more convenient for yourself. If you can make low-fat alternatives easier to reach for, then you are more likely to reach for meals and food that is good for you as well as diet-friendly. Luckily, fruits, vegetables, and other low-fat foods are amongst the most convenient foods out there.
Keep chopped up fruits and vegetables in your refrigerator to make stir-fries, salads, and other healthy meals more easy. Keep low-fat yogurt and other low fat food around for fast snacking, and you will reach for these foods rather than turning to high-fat, high-sodium junk food.
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