Trying to Lower Cholesterol? You Don’t Need to Do Everything Perfectly

There is a strange thing that can happen when we start trying to improve our health.

We learn something useful, then something else, then something else again.

Before long, what started as a few sensible changes becomes a long list of things we feel we should (and shouldn't!) be doing.

And for anyone with even a hint of all-or-nothing thinking, that can quickly turn into: “Well, if I can’t do all of this properly, what’s the point?”

I realised recently that I had fallen into my own version of exactly this.

Over the last few months, I’ve fallen in love with running. I genuinely look forward to getting out.

But one evening I was lying in bed thinking about the 9k run on my training plan the following morning.

At first, I felt excited.

Then I started thinking about the heat.

What time should I get up?

What should I have for breakfast?

How long before the run should I eat it?

How much should I drink without drinking so much that my toddler-sized bladder caused problems halfway round?

Within a few minutes, I’d managed to turn something I was looking forward to into something I felt anxious about.

And suddenly it clicked.

I was taking something I loved and making it harder by trying to optimise every detail.

Once I noticed it, I could see how easily it had happened.

Since I started running, my social media algorithm has very "helpfully" decided that what I need is endless running advice.

The warm-up I should be doing.

The way I should be fuelling.

The exercises I need to prevent injury.

The tiny tweaks that could make me faster.

None of that advice is necessarily wrong.

But collectively, it creates a very powerful message: What you are doing now isn’t enough.

There is always another thing you could add. Another thing you could improve. Another way you could be doing it better.

And that is where useful information can start becoming unhelpful.

Because eventually you are no longer simply going for a run.

You are trying to run correctly.

I caught myself scrolling straight past running content because I didn’t want to know any more.

I already have a training plan from a source I trust. It tells me what runs to do, gives me warm-ups and cool-downs, and offers some basic nutrition guidance.

So I decided that, for now, that is enough.

And the irony wasn’t lost on me, because I see exactly the same thing happen with people trying to improve their cholesterol.

You find out your cholesterol is high, so understandably you start looking for information.

You learn that fibre matters. That saturated fat matters. That exercise can help.

Then the advice keeps coming.

Should you eat oats every day? How much fibre? What about plant sterols? Psyllium? Supplements? Strength training? Steps? Protein? Weight loss? Meal timing?

Suddenly, instead of feeling clearer, you feel as though there are twenty things you need to get right.

And if you already tend towards perfectionism, that becomes a problem.

Because the choice starts to feel like Do all of it properly, or you’re not really doing enough.

But health simply doesn’t work like that.

You do not need to do every possible thing that could improve your cholesterol.

You need to do enough of the things that matter, consistently enough for them to make a difference.

Eating a more fibre-rich breakfast most days counts.

Walking three times a week counts.

Choosing foods lower in saturated fat more often counts.

Eating in a way that keeps you satisfied counts.

Having a takeaway on Friday and then simply carrying on as normal on Saturday counts.

None of those things need to be perfect to be useful.

And this is the bit I think we sometimes miss.

Doing some of the right things consistently will take you much further than doing all of the right things perfectly for a week and then giving up because it became too much.

That does not mean there is never a place for more detailed or personalised advice. Sometimes there absolutely is.

But there is a big difference between making a change because it genuinely matters and constantly adding more because you are worried that what you are already doing is not enough.

The question I am trying to ask myself now is: Does this actually need improving yet?

There will always be another 1% you could chase.

Elite athletes need to care about that 1%.

For most of us, the bigger win is finding a way of looking after ourselves that we can actually keep doing.

So if all the health advice you are consuming is making you feel as though you cannot possibly do enough, perhaps the answer is not to try harder.

Perhaps it is to simplify.

Choose the things that matter most.

Let them become part of your life.

Then build gradually, if and when you need to.

Good enough really is good enough when good enough is something you can keep doing.

And if chasing the final 1% is costing you the consistency of the other 99%, it probably wasn’t helping as much as you thought.

If high cholesterol has left you overwhelmed by conflicting advice, the Heart-Healthy Living Course gives you one clear, step-by-step framework to follow, so you can focus on what matters without trying to change everything at once.

Explore the Heart-Healthy Living Course