11. Try to make heart-healthy food more interesting. You are unlikely to be satisfied with eating the same salad or the same types of healthy meals every day. Sticking to the same sort of food will get you in a rut and will make high-fat alternatives more attractive.

Find new low-fat food that you can enjoy, and make it part of your eating plan to look up new low-fat recipes as well as new foods each week so that you will always be enjoying foods that are new and healthy for your heart.

12. Figure what your eating dangers are and find ways to overcome them. Most of us have specific emotions and events that may make us want to turn to "comfort" food.  Whether it’s general stress, sadness, boredom, or meetings with your boss, it is very important to find out which events cause you to overeat or to crave high-fat foods and then work hard to find alternatives.

Sometimes, this can be very simple. If your walk home from work takes you past your favourite restaurant you find difficult to resist, then you may need to find a different way home. If Tuesday work meetings make you want to reach for cookies in your office desk, find a way to get out of the meetings or take a walk after the meeting instead of reaching for it.

On a sheet of paper, list the times you are most likely to want to eat, and besides each item, list ways you can avoid that situation or at least make better choices when you are faced with it. Post your list on your planner or any other visible place so that you will see it well.

13. Make cholesterol-friendly eating more easy. If counting fat grams, sodium, fibre, types of fat, and cholesterol in each of your foods stresses you, get a small gadget that will count the grams and amounts for you. You may even want to get programs for your computer or palm pilot that will do this for you. Or simplify by eating more of the good food and less of the bad. Sound too simple? It isn’t at all.

When you prepare a meal, simply make sure that most of your plate is taken up by fresh fruit and vegetables. The portion size of grain should be smaller and the portion size of animal proteins (meats, milk products) should be smaller, not larger than a pack of cards. Make sure that you eat different fruits and vegetables each day so that you can get a variety. Use olive oil as your main source for fat and refuse other dressings or sauces. Do all your cooking with olive oil.

Eliminate foods such as organ meats, full-fat dairy products, egg yolks, and convenience or restaurant meals completely, and you should be able to lower your cholesterol significantly without counting every gram you put in your mouth. If you are on a very strict low-cholesterol diet this may not be sufficient. But for most people interested in lowering their cholesterol this simple formula will be a snap to follow and will lower your cholesterol fast.

Over the next 30 days, lower your cholesterol by making sure that reaching for low-fat, heart-healthy foods is more attractive and automatic than reaching for high-fat food.

This will not make your craving for less-than-healthy meals go completely, but it will go a long way towards ensuring that you don’t give into those cravings.

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