The South Beach Diet is an easy-to-follow plan that the entire family can benefit from. So you can prepare a variety of delicious foods, stay on track, lose weight, and have more energy — without doing double duty in the kitchen! Plus, your loved ones will enjoy better health in the process.

Just keep these guidelines in mind when preparing family dinners:

• Skip refined carbs. Even small children benefit from — and can become accustomed to — nutrient-dense whole grains. Start transitioning your family to whole-wheat pasta and sliced bread, brown rice, and less common grains like quinoa and bulgur.
  South Beach Diet-style: Begin enjoying a side dish of these grains once you enter Phase 2.

   

• Serve more veggies. Build your meal's main course around fresh vegetables. Consider serving sautéed vegetables and a salad, instead of opting for one or the other. Add extra veggies to whole-wheat pasta, soups, stews, and the like.
  South Beach Diet-style: Sauté vegetables in extra-virgin olive oil or canola oil.

   

• Stick with lean proteins. Select lean cuts of beef and skinless poultry, and braise, bake, broil, or grill your meat. Vegetarians can enjoy soy-based meat alternatives that have 6 grams of fat or less per 2- to 3-ounce serving.
  South Beach Diet-style: Choose lean cuts of beef like eye of round, ground beef (labeled "sirloin," "lean," and "extra lean"), tenderloin, top loin, and top round. Opt for the poultry breast (skinless, of course) instead of the darker wings and thighs, which are higher in saturated fats.

   

• Go fish. Choose oily fish, like salmon, for their beneficial omega-3s. Be cautious when it comes to farmed salmon, which may have high levels of an environmental toxin (PCBs), as well as with long-lived, deep-sea species like swordfish and tilefish, which may accumulate mercury in their flesh. Mercury consumption can damage your nervous system and may be especially harmful for young children, pregnant women, and nursing moms.
  South Beach Diet-style: When it comes to healthy omega-3s, Spanish mackerel, light tuna, and sardines are some good choices.