We all know we should be eating healthily, but where do we start? What are the first steps toward eating in a way that is more conscious of our health?

The easiest way to start eating more healthily is to stop eating in such unhealthy ways.  Here are four easy tips to start cutting damaging food from your diet:

1. Avoid artificial ingredients in your food. Remove artificial ingredients from your pantry, relentlessly. These include artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners, hydrogenated oil, preservatives, and anything else on the label which doesn’t sound like a fruit, vegetable, or animal. Whole foods do not contain artificial ingredients and are the safest choice. Artificial ingredients are the most harmful culprits in unhealthful food.
2. Avoid unwholesome forms of food. Remove unwholesome foods from your pantry, as much as possible. These include refined sugars, refined flours, and refined oils. Dry or frozen foods retain more nutrients than canned foods. Whole foods are the most wholesome since they retain more fiber and vitamins. Unwholesome ingredients are the second most harmful culprits in unhealthful food.
3. Avoid dietary offenders. Watch your use of foods which tempt you or do not agree with you, even if they are technically natural or wholesome. For many people, carbohydrates and sweets lead to weight gain and many health problems. Many people have sensitivities to dairy products or gluten. It’s best to know your weaknesses and replace them with foods which do not irritate the body, such as meat, cultured dairy products, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and oils. Dietary offenders are a more personalized culprit to be guarded against, along with artificial and unwholesome foods.
4. Avoid hurried, scattered eating and unplanned snacks. Take adequate time for leisurely enjoyment of meals, and take pleasure in what you eat. Paying closer attention to foods and mealtimes not only helps you to plan the eating of more healthful foods, but this also gives your body a chance to prepare for the eating and assimilation of food. Plan to cook homemade meals and allow time to gather with family around the dining table. Hurried eating on-the-go is the culprit that often necessitates the packaged convenience foods which are unwelcome in a healthful diet.

What do you think? Do you have other tips you’d like to share? I would love to dialogue with you in the comments!

(Renee DeGroot is a native Montanan whose book Health for Godly Generations explores the many ways to build and improve a healthy lifestyle. You can visit her website Health for Godly Generations for more information.)