Being the savvy person you are, you already know how dangerous cholesterol can be. You probably even know that there are two different kinds: the bad LDL and the good HDL. If you don’t know the difference, here’s a quick primer. LDL attaches to the walls of your arteries and may cause strokes or heart attacks by blocking the flow of blood; HDL works to remove LDL and is therefore considered to be beneficial to your overall health. What follows are six steps that are designed to help you raise your HDL (good) cholesterol levels.

Get Active: To create more HDL, you are going to have to start exercising for at least thirty minutes a day. This does not mean joining a class or becoming a regular at the gym. It is more important to choose an activity that will raise your heartbeat, but that you can do for longer periods of time. Take walks, ride your bike, pick something that you enjoy. That way you can say you’re having fun, not exercising. This will also trim down your waistline.

Diet: Add more dark green vegetables to your diet. While you’re at it avoid trans or saturated fats as researchers believe these increase your LDL. Eat more pure protein like fish or skinless chicken. Whole wheats are your friend, because they are loaded with simple carbohydrates.

Enjoy A Drink: It’s not all bad. You now have a perfectly valid reason to have that cocktail at dinner. Enjoying one or two drinks a day has been shown to improve HDL in studies. Just don’t over-indulge and you’ll be fine.

Stop Smoking: Need another reason to quit? How about this, by giving up tobacco a smoker automatically raises their HDL?

Worry Less: Take the time to enjoy life more. Revel in the simple pleasures. Try to avoid getting caught up in meaningless drama. You will not only live longer, but those extra years will be happier. While it has not been directly linked to cholesterol directly, stress has been shown to adversely affect the heart.

Get More Sleep: Your body uses sleep to repair itself from the ravages of the day. Make sure you get a solid eight hours every night to eliminate physical stress from the body. Just like mental stress, physical stress affects your health negatively. Think of your body like a car and sleep as your 50, 000 mile tune-up.