Your primary method of attacking high levels of bad cholesterol is to change your diet and get rid of excess fat in your meals. Most people recommend cutting your intake of fat back to 20 to 30 percent of your entire caloric intake. One problem with this is that that you may never lose your desire for fatty foods, so every meal becomes a struggle to keep your fat under control. If you don t trust your will power, your other alternative is to drop your fat intake all the way down to 10 percent. Step 2 The 10 percent fat diet. A 10 percent fat diet dosen t mean you give up all the good things in life-it merely means you are more careful about your food choices. Instead of broiled chicken, baked potato with sour cream, peas in a ceam sauce, and a nice dish of frozen yogurt. This second menu contains just 9 grams of fat! It may sound difficult at first to get used to a 10 percent diet, but as the weeks go by, the foods you used to like, such as hamburgers, fries, and potato chips, will begin to taste too greasy. An added bonus is the weight you will lose because your body will no longer have to store all that excess fat. If you decide to use the 10 percent diet, your foods should fall within 3 categories-those you eat all the time, foods you can eat occasionally, and stuff you wouldn t touch with a 10-foot pole. The Foods you can Eat all the time are: Lean meats epecially fish and fowl. Egg whites. Cereals which contain no fat,sugar, or salt. Tofu and other soy products. Pastas made without oil or eggs. Nonfat dairy products. Alll fuits,fruit juices, and veetables,except olives and avocados, wich contain too much fat. Peas,beans,lentils, and other legumes. The Foods you should Eat occasionally are: Smoked or charbroiled food, because they contain a potent carcinogen. Low-sodium soy sauce. Pastas made with eggs Sugar,molassess,sucrose, and other sweetners. Caffeinated drinks, but no more than two cups a day. Breads and cereals made with added fats. Lobster,crab,and shrimp, all of which have quite a lot of cholesterol. Olive oil or canola oil, if used sparingly Low-fat (one-percent) dairy products The foods you should never eat are: *Fried foods *Egg yolks *Salty or salty foods *Meat fat, margarine,butter,lard, and hydrogenated vegetable oils. *Mayonnaise *All nuts, except chestnuts *Fatty meats, such as organs, cold cuts, and most cuts of beef and pork. Also avoid chicken skin, which is almost pure fat. *Nondairy creamers and any source of palm or coconut oils. *Polyunsaturated fat, such as corn oil and most other vegetable oils. *Whole dairy products, like whole milk, cream, and sour cream. Step 3 The way to figure out how much total fat is in your diet is to multiply your total daily intake of fat(in grams) by nine, which is the number of calories per gram of fat. Next, you divide this number by your total daily calorie intake. You probably have to keep a journal of the fat and calorie content of each food you eat. Eventually, however, you will automatically learn to judge wich foods are best for you.