I eat what I want. I am blessed by naturally low cholesterol. I eat mostly fish, chicken, and deer we shoot on my land. I have no problem with beef but my deer meat tastes better. I do not work out but have much exercise keeping up my nine acres of land. I drink and enjoy it and smoke a cigar when my wife is not home but that is a different story. :(
I am 70 years old and statistically will snuff it in 15 or 20 years. I still teach kids how to fly and will not change my lifestyle. I like vegetables also but I do cover them in rich sauces such as Hollandaise or a cream cheese with sour cream and Italian spices. I also cook Mexican food that is the worst of the worst for cholesterol. I have no cholesterol problems as mentioned I am genetically blessed. It tastes wonderful.
Sounds to me like you have an active lifestyle. My observation based on my own body is keeping active is key to a disease resistant life. I don’t work out in gym, I am too old for that nearing 79. The treadmill gives me access to fast-walking in all weather conditions. Time is more important than speed of walking. I am not even tired after 30 min on treadmill and could easily go for 60 min. But why strain my knees and hip joints any more when 30 min keeps me out of the doctor’s office. Same with lifting weights. I lift only 30 pounds but do about 100 lifts. That way I won’t break anything.
As for diet, it does not matter much if you are active. Just make sure your bowel activity is normal and regular. Keep in mind our ancestors for a few million years ate whatever was available. Our bodies are amazingly tolerant of variety of foods. Only caution is if you are not very active, modern American typical diet will cause lot of problems.
I don’t see many people over 70 in the gym. No wonder the older people in my condo complex of 300units look out of shape, walk slowly, and need doctor visits frequently.