Stress can be a tough one to avoid because sometimes it can be imposed on you by things out of your control. Fatty food though is a piece of cake, literally.
I had to give up bread, even though I've always eaten whole grain bread, which in theory is good for you, it was what went on or in the bread that was causing me problems. I love toast with jam in the morning, and sandwiches with plenty of mayonnaise, and plenty of other things to do with bread or wheat that are not good for you cholesterol wise. So I gave up all wheat for a while, and that means pretty much all pasta, baked goods, pizza, etc...
For the most part I ate fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts during the day, and ate one proper meal a day at supper time, which was generally cooked green vegetables, maybe carrots too, salmon, and some squash or something similar. But not Potatoes. I always ate till I was full for that meal, and never went to bed hungry. I did that for about 6 months and lost over 40 lbs. But I was also doing a lot of exercises too, mainly hiking and riding. Did that from Dec til April, and then slowly started to eat some things again that I wouldn't eat then, like beef and whole grain bread, but I still avoid a lot of dairy products like milk, and butter, and avoid sugar products like the plague. Cakes, ice cream, cookies, pop, etc... are all killers. But the biggest factor I believe that helped me was taking extra fiber. I grind up flax seeds in a little coffee grinder and mix that with some psyllium husks in a glass of water two or three times a day and it gives me plenty of fiber and gives me a full feeling without any significant calories, plus fax seeds are high in omega 3s. I also take high doses of niacin and vitamin C.
My cholesterol level was so high my doctor wanted to put me on the Statin "Crestor", but I didn't want to go that route, so I did my own thing and did the diet, exercise, and natural cholesterol lowering vitamin niacin, and vitamin C which is an anti inflammatory which helps stop buildup in your arteries. I know it all worked because I have the blood lab tests to prove it. I keep a record of them and try to get new tests once year, but it has been over a year for me now since I had my cholesterol levels checked. My biggest improvement in my cholesterol levels was in my second test about 10 months after I started doing the diet exercise thing, the doctor was having problems believing the test results. He said most people never see a change that great in that short of time,,, without those statin drugs.
In subsequent tests my levels improved only slightly, but that's to be expected, since the goal is not to completely get rid of any trace of the bad cholesterol in your blood (you need it actually), but just to balance the levels. I won't talk about the levels, because you guys measure it differently down there then we do here in Canada, but I was in what is considered the "very high" level.That's why the doctor wanted to put me on Crestor right away. Now I'm well within the normal range, or at least I was the last few times I had it checked. But from a physical standpoint I have way more stamina. I've been able to measure that too by how far I could ride up the mountain, and how I felt at certain mile point markers. Or in my case, the kilometer point markers. I fly past the old markers I use to only be able to just make it to before when I first started, and it seems to just keep getting easier. If I keep it up by the time I'm 60 I won't even work up a sweat.