If you need some really hard hitters to get a quick head start on getting a high cholesterol level down, here are ten important steps. (More details follow the list.)

For the next two to four weeks:
1. Exercise 30 minutes a day, at least six days a week.
3. Don’t buy prepackaged foods, skip the fast food altogether, and cook all of your meals at home.
2. Cut out ALL hydrogenated oils, trans fat, and saturated fat (except for what naturally occurs in lean meats), and limit red meat to once a week, or not at all. Don’t eat any organ meats (liver, heart, kidney, or gizzard).
3. Eat hot oatmeal for breakfast at least four times a week, and have high-fiber cereal on the other days, as well as an oatmeal cookie (no saturated fat please) for a snack if that cereal didn’t include oats.
4. Eat two or three prunes and an apple every day.
5. Eat salmon at least once a week, and other high omega-3 fish (such as tuna, mackerel, or sardines) two or three times per week.
6. If you must have cheese, no more than one ounce per day, and switch to egg substitutes and low-fat or skim milk.
7. Take an Omega-3 supplement every day.
8. Eat 1.5 ounces of walnuts (no added oil or salt) every day.
9. Use olive oil and garlic to add flavor to foods, and an ounce or two of avocado to make sandwiches moist or add omega-3s to a salad.
10. Switch to whole grain bread and pasta, brown rice, and get two or three servings of beans every week (green beans don’t count). Include kidney beans at least once a week.

After you see some improvement in your numbers, you can start to reintroduce some foods back into your diet, such as an occasional visit to a fast-food restaurant, one or two whole eggs per week, and perhaps vary breakfast a bit more.

Read on for details on the above steps, as well as healthy lifestyle habits that you may want to develop for the rest of your life, no matter what your cholesterol numbers are!

Although the focus of this article is on foods, there are some very important lifestyle changes that will directly impact the speed and effectiveness of lowering cholesterol levels and must be included here:

Exercise 30 to 60 minutes a day. 30 minutes of walking minimum, and don’t be afraid to take one day off a week. Park farther away from the store; take the stairs when you can. Wear a pedometer and get it over 10,000 steps every day, no matter what. A short walk in the evening is a good idea to fill in the extra steps. Take the whole family – it is good for them, too!

Lose weight, stop smoking, and don’t drink alcohol. These are the obvious big hitters when it comes to your overall health, as well as each being linked to cholesterol levels. No room for discussion but definitely worth mentioning.

Now on to my favorite subject: FOOD!

Foods you need to completely cut out of your diet:

Anything hydrogenated! (These are usually healthy oils that have been turned into bad fats.) You’ll need to start reading labels, and the first ones to check out are those in your pantry and fridge. Be sure to check the peanut butter, margarine, mayonnaise, and salad dressings. Replace these with heart healthy oils such as olive, canola, and flaxseed. You may want to learn how to make your own mayonnaise. Stay away from stick margarine, and look for a spread that uses good oils that aren’t hydrogenated. For an extra boost, look for one that has plant stearols added.

High Fructose Corn Syrup! This may have many people wondering what sugar (a non-fat food) has to do with cholesterol. Many studies have proven that the less sugar you eat, the less you crave fats – and vice-versa. Beware of low-fat foods marketed at the restaurant or grocery store; most of them are loaded up with sugar and salt to “make up” for any lost flavor from the missing fat. Cutting out HFCS has other huge health benefits, as well. Did you know that your body has its own “calorie counter”? As you eat, it keeps track and tells you when you are full. (Obesity, smoking, and HFCS intake can short-circuit this internal monitor a bit, so it may take some time to get it functioning properly again once you are on a healthy eating and lifestyle plan.) In addition, High Fructose Corn Syrup has the unique ability to completely bypass this system, so no matter how much of it you eat (or drink), it will never satisfy you. Talk about new meaning to the words “empty calories”! At the very least, cut down soft drinks to no more than 12 ounces a week, and always get 100% juice products. Even better, drink water, eat the whole fruit, and ditch the juice entirely. It is time to check those labels again! Pay close attention to your salad dressings and peanut butter (again), ketchup and other condiments, anything marked as low-fat or fat-free, and even your canned soups, fruit, and vegetables. Warning: This does NOT give you free license to consume artificial sweeteners! These chemicals have dangers all their own, and aren’t very conducive to weight loss, either. (But that is an entirely new discussion.) What I’m saying is, if you have something sweet, be sure it uses real sugar or fruit juice. Agave, stevia, and honey are also excellent natural sugar sources.

Cut down on saturated fat by choosing leaner cuts of meat, and limit red meat to two or three times per week. Limit the amounts of butter, cheese, and whole eggs; switch to lowfat milk and use egg substitutes whenever possible. Don’t eat the skin of poultry items, and limit your fried foods to no more than once a month. (Even less is better.)

Fast Food Warning! Don’t eat out more than once or twice a week – even less often is better for you and your pocketbook. Restaurants know what our bodies like, and that is fat, salt, and sugar. They trigger addictive responses that keep us coming back for more. Decide what your absolute favorite fast food items are, and make them a treat, not a regular feature. Your body can recover from an occasional high-fat or unhealthy meal as long as it isn’t very often. You also may find as you cut out a lot of unhealthy foods from your diet, that your previous fast food favorites may not be as tasty to you as before. They may even make you feel a bit yucky, which really tells you something about how what you eat affects your body, especially when it gets used to eating healthy.

Enough of the bad stuff. Let’s get onto the good stuff! What SHOULD you be eating?

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. At the very least it will make him (and likely your dentist) happier. Apples are chock full of fiber and antioxidants. The skin has most of the fiber, as well as pectin. All of these are good for your body, and very beneficial in helping lower your cholesterol.

Eat salmon at least once a week. Salmon has other great stuff in it, too, besides it’s cholesterol-fighting properties. You should aim for 2 to 3 total servings of fish per week; other body-beneficial fish are mackerel, herring, albacore tuna, and sardines. Fatty fish, high in omega 3 fatty acids, will help raise your HDL (the good or Healthy cholesterol), which is what helps prevent the LDL (the bad or Lousy cholesterol) from sticking to places it shouldn’t. (In many cases the total cholesterol number isn’t as important as the ratio of HDL to LDL. You should get all of these numbers when your doctor checks.)

Walnuts are great, just not too many! Make sure you get good quality nuts that aren’t prepared with oil or salt. Walnuts are the best bet for fighting your cholesterol, but other good ideas are almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, and pistachios. Nuts are high in calories, too; so a small handful per day (about 1 1/2 ounces worth) is plenty to pack a big Omega-3 punch, and provide a good protein and energy source. These are a great snack to have before a workout, or even half-an-hour before a meal; having a small amount of healthy fat will help you eat less, and not crave the fatty foods so much.

Avocados. An excellent source of nutrition and healthy fats. (Have you heard enough about Omega 3 yet?) Like nuts, this is still a high-calorie food, so limit yourself to a couple of ounces per serving. Try using avocado (either sliced or mashed) to moisten up a sandwich instead of mayonnaise!

Olive oil. Replace other oils and butter with olive oil. This is another great source of those Omega 3s!

Oatmeal. Eat oatmeal for breakfast at least four times a week, and have high-fiber cereal on the other days. A low-fat oatmeal cookie once in awhile is a good snack, too. (A great oatmeal cookie recipe coming soon!)

Whole grains. Replace as many white flour foods as you can with whole grains. Switch to whole grain bread, pasta, and brown rice whenever possible. Introduce whole grains gradually; mixing half regular pasta with half whole grain pasta, for example. Your body needs to get used to the additional fiber content!

Prunes. I’m a big fan of these nutritional powerhouses. High in fiber, vitamin A, vitamin B6, potassium, iron, and antioxidants, they are ideal for a healthy lifestyle and are recognized as having a number of health benefits. Two or three as an everyday snack is perfect; don’t overdo it, as they are high in sugar content and are a natural laxative.

These outline healthy habits that you should be incorporating into your everyday lifestyle in order to keep your cholesterol in check and greatly reduce the risks of heart disease.

What are your favorite foods for helping to lower your cholesterol?

“Appearance, after all, was a reflection of what a person thought of themselves and therefore, by extension, of others. A person crippled by self-loathing or self-doubt reflected those feelings in their appearance. Such visual clues did not inspire confidence in others because, and while not always completely accurate, for the most part they did reflect the inner person — whether or not the person realized it.” – Terry Goodkind, Chainfire

FlyLady recommends that getting dressed and “fixing your hair and face” should be done every morning, no matter how you feel. Many times that can lift your spirits and, in turn, make you physically feel better as well. It really only takes a few minutes, and I’m able to accomplish this while keeping an eye on a very active toddler.  Since all I use is Bare Mineralsit is very fast, looks natural, and actually keeps my skin healthy due to the absorbent nature of the minerals and the added sunscreen protection. It is nice to know that you already look great when the unexpected visitor or emergency errand comes up!

It seems to be a good influence on my daughter, too.  At 18 months old, she brushes her teeth, brushes her hair, and plays with a big fluffy makeup brush as I do these things in the morning.  I hope this excitement for personal hygiene continues as she grows older!

It is good for your health, too.  Obviously, bathing is always good, as is brushing your teeth.  But did you know that flossing your teeth can prevent heart attacks and miscarriages?  Using a loofah or scrub sponge can help your skin absorb the moisture and nutrients it needs to keep it looking great?  Brushing your hair makes it stronger and more lustrous by distributing the natural oils?  I realize that I am getting to the age where adult acne shouldn’t be as much of a problem anymore, but I have noticed a dramatic improvement since I started using the mineral makeup every day.  There are many reasons to be sure you take a little bit of extra time on yourself, especially when you are under the weather.

Taking pride in your appearance also shows a respect for your spouse. Sure, he or she should love you for “who you really are” even when you don’t look your best – but aren’t you really someone who takes pride in themselves, and how you reflect on your family?  Besides, the person I most want to look good for is my husband.  It gives him an extra boost to know that I am willing to take the time even though he is the only one to see me that day.

I hope I have encouraged you to set this worthy goal of developing this morning ritual for yourself!

The biggest factors that make your immune system stronger are: exercising regularly, eating nutritious foods, getting enough sleep, and maintaining proper weight. I’m sure you’ve heard those phrases a million times, but they are very true. I’d like to share some specific tips that have helped my family.

1. Maintain your proper weight. Determine what you need to lose (or gain), discuss your ideas with your doctor, and get started on a program right away. The Better Homemaking Network is currently developing a meal plan that can be used for weight loss and is Weight Watchers compatible. Stay tuned! In the meantime, these tips for your immune system are all ideal beginnings for weight management.

2. Walk 30 minutes a day. More activity is always good, but this the threshold where the benefits really start to kick in. Try wearing a pedometer and get yourself over the 10,000 mark every day.

3. Vitamins – take a good multi or do some research and put together your own regimen. 500mg Vitamin C every 12 hours is a great place to start. I keep a bottle of chewables in my nightstand and munch on one when I get up and when I go to bed.

4. Eat fruits and veggies! At least five servings, but seven to nine is preferred. Be sure to wash them really well – just think about how many times they have been handled before getting into your kitchen! Wash all of it, even the items that you peel. Dry them off with a paper towel instead of letting them air dry. There are more things in fresh food that prevent disease, many of which we haven’t discovered yet, that we just can’t reproduce in a pill. (Or juice!)

5. Drink water! It helps flush out body waste and anything else that shouldn’t be there. Here are some tips to get the most out of your water.

6. Wash your hands frequently, and avoid touching your face. Sanitizing wipes are a big help. Keep some in the car, and every time you come out of a store or doctor’s office, wipe down your hands, the door handle, the gearshift, and the steering wheel. Remember after pumping gas, too. I try to wipe the baby’s hands since they usually end up touching the floor somewhere!

7. Get enough sleep; an average of 7 hours a day. Your body needs sleep to regenerate itself. Another very interesting thing that happens while you sleep, is the replenishment of certain chemicals in your brain. If you don’t get enough sleep, your brain doesn’t get enough of these chemicals, and it wants them so badly it will trigger hunger cravings! Food can only provide cheap substitutes for these chemicals, however, so it can become a vicious cycle if you do not catch enough of those zzz’s.

8. Chiropractic Care – this can be a controversial option, although I can say that I have personally documented improvement in my own immune system since I started getting adjusted regularly. Imagine your spine as a huge switchboard, relaying all the information your body needs from your brain. So when you are out of alignment, nerves get pinched, switches turn off, and those organs can’t get all their messages back and forth, which impedes healing.

I’d like to note that I used to get sick all of the time.  Since I started doing these things I have only been sick two or three times a year, and I recover very rapidly; usually in less than twelve hours!

How much water should you drink? Approximately 1-oz per 2lbs of body weight. Just don’t drink more than 12 ounces in half an hour very often – it can be a little TOO hard on your kidneys. Hyponatremia is extremely rare though, and I wouldn’t worry about it unless you can’t stop to go to the bathroom for an extended period of time. And while you are exercising, you should try to drink 8 ounces every half-hour.

Try different kinds of water and stock up on your favorite. I personally found that I like plain ol’ distilled water and dislike most others, including the most popular and preppy brands. Deer Park is tolerable, and Sam’s Choice brand (from WalMart) is my favorite. But this is all personal preference, based on your taste for different minerals in your water. I really wish I could get Sparklett’s water on the East Coast!

Find some different and fun water bottles; use what you like best. I use a few of the big Propel bottles – I like the way the cap works and I refill them with my water. I also have a cool purple bottle with a straw from FlyLady.com that I use, too. And my husband surprised me with a sexy-looking Deer Park water bottle when we stopped at a gas station the other day – too bad it fell apart! Make it fun, and it is easier. Don’t worry about BPA leeching out of your bottles! Just make sure they are clean if you reuse them, throw them away if they are worn or cracked, and don’t heat them up in the microwave.

I sometimes add a little bit of flavoring to my water, but I can’t use Crystal Light, I am allergic to Nutrasweet. Weight Watchers JUST came out with their version of the Crystal Light packs, they have raspberry, lemonade, and peach tea, and use Splenda instead. You don’t have to use the entire packet, either; sometimes just a sprinkle is enough. I love just squeezing a lemon or lime into my water. Try an orange or grapefruit!

Caffeine is a diuretic, it will leech out any water you take in – that is why drinks with it don’t count, including coffee, tea, and green tea. Drinking soda does more harm than good with the amount of sugar, sodium, and chemicals (sodium benzoate is baaaaaad for you) so it doesn’t really count, either. Juice, well, it is really high in calories, and eating the actual fruit is so much better for you, and filling, too. But you CAN count it towards your intake. (Be sure it is 100% juice and not a juice drink which is mostly sugar syrup.) You can count milk, too. But… AT LEAST HALF of your recommended water intake is supposed to be just that: WATER.

Drink it COLD whenever you can. Your body has to spend calories to raise the water to your core temperature. Cold is good!

Drinking water doesn’t really “melt” fat, but… if your kidneys don’t get plenty of water, your liver has to help them out, and that takes it away from its primary job of… metabolizing stored fat!!

I drink at least 3 22-oz bottles of water (I refill them from big jugs of distilled which is my preference) and a glass of low-fat milk each day. I treat myself to the occasional natural soda (with REAL sugar, stay away from the high fructose corn syrup). No more than once a week, though; the carbonation isn’t all that great for you, either. I like to call it my “Soda-Pop Sunday”!

You will BE AMAZED at what that magic 64 ounces of water a day will do. I was like, yeah, I’m losing weight just fine, who cares about the water, I drink a little milk and lots of fruit and veggies with water in them… but when I hit a plateau after losing the first 16 pounds, I tried it. The first thing I noticed was how SOFT my skin felt! And how FULL I felt – I wasn’t hungry at all, it was easier to stretch out my points, and for the first time in five months I was able to go without dipping into those extra 35 weekly bonus points! And I just plain feel better!

What has drinking water done for you? Share your favorite tips here!