Cholesterol management

I had a doctor's appointment to talk about my blood work. I need to lose weight because my latest blood work showed an elevated LDL cholesterol level. If it weren't so bloody hot, I could go back to my daily walks, but when I have gone out for errands or excursions, the heat has made it really hard. My cholesterol is not bad enough that medication is indicated, but it would be a good idea to lose weight as one way to manage it. For most of my adult life, I weighed between 120 and 125 and was in relatively good shape. When I got pregnant I gained a lot of weight, and after that it took a few years and a lot of ballroom dancing to get my weight back down there. But a combination of factors has meant a significant weight gain. I stopped dancing due to frozen shoulder problems. Menopause changed my metabolism. One of the medications I tried out caused a wild weight gain. Illness and inactivity for a couple of years were also surely contributors. I got up to 180. None of my clothes 'fit any more and I experienced a lot of fatigue and foot pain, A couple of times I have been able to take off ten pounds or so, but I never got below 150. 

In the last month I have started to slowly lose weight due in part to eating at home in my new apartment where my pantry is still not really stocked. I just broke the 170 barrier this morning. If I can continue to lose weight at this rate--about a pound a week--I could conceivably lose twenty more pounds in five months, by the end of the year. A modest goal of losing 20 lbs feels doable. I am cautiously optimistic.