Eat plenty of fish: Herring, sardines, and salmon are all excellent sources of Omega 3 essential fatty acids. Other fish are great too, although Omega 3 may help to get your cholesterol down to a healthier level.

Choosing healthy fats and oils: Saturated fat will increase the risk of heart disease. It's found in meat, butter, and even coconut oil. You should avoid them until your cholesterol levels are down and you are at a healthy weight. Even those that love red meats can enjoy seafood and nuts for their main sources of protein.

Monounsaturated fats such as olive oils will help you to protect your heart. Olive oil is an ideal choice for cooking, dressing, or even as a dipping sauce.

Plenty of fiber can help you control your cholesterol. You can find fiber in whole grain products to help control sugar absorption as well, which will help you keep your digestive system healthy.

Eating for your heart involves staying away from sugary foods such as candy, cookies, cakes, and pastries. Eating a lot of sugar isn't good for your heart disease at all. Healthy carbohydrates involve whole grain breads, whole grain pasta, brown rice, and a lot of vegetables. You should make fruits and vegetables the main aspect of your diet.

Stir frying and sautéing with olive oil or canola oil are both great methods, as you shouldn't dip your food in batter and fry it anymore. If you cook chicken, remove the skin and bake it in the oven in foil.

Instead of frying your fish you should always bake it. Steaming your vegetables can help maintain the most nutrients. You should use cream sauces or lots of butter anymore either. When you eat vegetables, try squeezing lemon juice on them or using your favorite seasonings.

As you make the proper changes to your diet, keep in mind that it takes time for them to become habits. Eating healthy is always great for your body and your lifestyle, especially when it comes to your heart and the prevention of heart disease.

If your like us, the first thing you'll want to do with your new machine is make Ice Cream!

Remember, the ice is the thickener!!

A regular ice cream maker makes ice cream by starting out with no ice crystal's and slowly building up crystals until ice cream is formed. The Total Blender makes ice cream in the opposite. The blender breaks down ice cubes (which are just large crystals) into little tiny crystals to make ice cream. So, the harder and colder the ice cubes you use, the more tiny crystals there are in those cubes to thicken the ice cream.

That makes ice a variable in your recipies because some freezer's are colder than others depending on their settings, efficiency, etc. right? So, when makeing ice cream, if you find that your ice cream is too runny just add more ice.

You'll know when you have added too much ice, because your recipe will get really thick really quick. This causes an air pocket to form at the bottom of the jar where the blades spin and won't hit anything. To correct your mistake, just push any key to shut it off and then use the manual key to run the speed up to the highest speed (Remember on the high speed setting the friction is intense enough to cook soup and actually boil water!). The friction will heat up the recipe melting the ice and it will then pull the ingrediants down into the blade. If you start out with way too much ice it will take to long to melt the ice than its worth, so you can either dump it out and start over or add more liquid since the amount of ice needed is a ratio between the ice and liquid. Usually, approx. 1 part liquid to 2 parts ice.

Tip #2: WHOLE FRUIT SMOOTHIES

When EXPERIMENTING with smoothies that have WHOLE FRUITS or VEGETABLES in them, it's a good idea just to USE the WHOLE JUICE KEY. The smoothie key may work fine, but the whole juice key runs at a higher speeds with more power for a longer period of time. This will ensure you liquify your fruits and veggies and do not end up with any chunks in your drink WHEN EXPERIMENTING. If your following a recipe in the book, just use what ever key is suggested as they have been tried and tested already for you.

Tip #3: THE ORDER YOU PUT INGREDIENTS IN THE JAR MATTERS

In the Lifestyles recipe book, some recipes will instruct you to place the ingredients in the jar in the order that they appear. This ensures that you follow a rule of thumb and put the soft ingredients on the bottom and the hard ingredients on top to achieve maximum performance.