February is "heart health month."  And the best ways to keep your ticker ticking is to watch what you eat and keep your weight down.

But you also need to keep an eye on cholesterol, which is a major contributor to  heart disease.  

John Lisk has more in Your Health Report.

Every body needs cholesterol... that wax-like substance found in the blood.  

It keeps cells healthy, but knowing the difference between bad and good cholesterol is an important way to keep your heart healthy.

It's one of the risk factors that we can really make a significant impact upon to reduce the number of people who are having heart attacks and dying from heart disease.  So know your numbers.  

For women, the HDL or good cholesterol level should be at 50 or higher.  For men, 40 and above the ideal LDL or bad cholesterol is 100 or lower for both men and women.  And if that number is over 130, you really need to talk to your doctor on whether you should be treated.

Too much bad cholesterol can clog the veins, which can lead to a heart attack... so stay away from high fatty foods.  They are loaded with bad cholesterol.  Stay away from the saturated fats, they are the solid fats like red meat, margarine, butter, trans fats that you find in bake goods.  And increase your unsaturated fats: olive oil, nuts, avocado (put it in your salad, it's a good fat, it will actually raise your good cholesterol and lower your bad cholesterol).

Studies also show that even 30 minutes of moderate walking each day can help keep your good cholesterol up and your bad cholesterol down.