Reducing your risk for developing coronary heart disease

In order to increase your chances of success in reducing your risk for developing coronary heart disease, follow these tips:

1. Consult your physician.

2. Monitor your eating and activity behaviors.

3. Familiarize yourself with foods that contain small or large amounts of cholesterol, fats and sodium.

4. Follow the suggested food-group units for a diet of 1600 or 2000 calories, or calculate your own individual energy needs. The less active you are, the fewer calories you can afford to eat without gaining weight.

5. Study the sample menus that follow to assist you in designing your own diet. What is important is that you generally eat as suggested, paying more attention to the types of food you eat and the way the foods are prepared than to exact amounts. Of course, this does not mean you should eat more than suggested if you are trying to lose weight or if you find you are gaining undesired weight. Use your common sense in these matters.