Eating fat doesn’t make us fat.

Eating food high in cholesterol doesn’t give us high cholesterol.

While many carbs have little nutritional value, some carbs do (mainly nuts and berries). From a weight gain/loss perspective, there’s really no such thing as good or bad carbs. The question is glycemic impact because you don’t put on fat unless (1) first there is glucose in your blood and then (2) some mechanism (insulin) removes the glucose and deposits it into fat cells.

OP stay the course!

Cholesterol is not the villain it has been made out to be. Half of the heart attacks that occur every year happen to people with normal or low cholesterol. There is even a study that suggest low cholesterol increases your risks of dementia later in life

In addition to the healthy carbs, make sure that you are eating mostly lean meats and nothing fried.

No need to eat junky carbs. Eat high fiber, low glycemic fruits (raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries). These can be fresh or frozen.

Add a portion of kidney beans in a few days a week. Add chia seeds (9 grams of fiber in 3 tablespoons) to yogurt every day. Eat steamed artichokes, avocado, Brussels sprouts, nuts, or fatty fish.

These are all high fiber, lower glycemic foods that lower cholesterol. Don’t forget exercise!

Why on earth are you restricting carbs? All carbs are not the same. Eat apples, lentils, beans, oatmeal, all the fruits and vegetables you want.

What you seem to be missing is fiber. A lot of fiber. There is nothing wrong with nutritious carbs.

You still need whole grains/fiber in your diet. Make sure your protein is coming from lean sources such as fish and chicken instead of beef, more egg whites than egg yolk, etc.

For the past two years I have been focused on increased protein and fewer carbs... so eggs instead of toast, cheeseburger but no bun, rice bowls without rice (just chicken or meat/veggies). I don't eat all that much overall (I never have) but this switch to fewer carbs/more protein has helped me lose 5-10 lbs.... But for the first time I have slightly elevated cholestrol, and now I'm wondering if I need to go back to more carbs - wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice. I'm reading conflicting results on whether or not this would even help though. What is your experience balancing lower carbs without increasing cholestrol?