Good nutrition, like exercise, is something for which you can nerd out over lots of information, but which doesn’t require a lot of expertise to get right.
Broadly speaking, the food we eat is made up of three macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fats. Many fad diets will encourage eliminating, or maximizing, one or more of these nutrients, but proper nutrition includes all three.
The key is to be identify good quality sources and select from those. People will argue over ratios, but generally speaking, you should eat more carbs than protein, and more protein than fats (perhaps 60%,30%,10%, but as I said this is ripe for debate).
But, again, don’t overthink it. Just use good sources of each macronutrient. You can find plenty of lists online, but generally speaking good foods are natural or minimally processed, and the kinds of old fashioned things that your grandparents would have recognized - things like chicken, beef and fish; grains and potatoes; and fruits and vegetables.
if you want more specifics, consider these general guidelines:
If protein comes from animal products, like beef or chicken, look for a leaner option. It it comes from vegetarian sources (like beans and nuts), just be sure to get some variety.
For carbohydrates, look for fibrous sources. This usually translates to whole grains and fruits and vegetables.
For fats, seek out minimally processed sources; fats get most unhealthy when humans manipulate them. Some good food sources are fish, nuts, and avocados.
Another thing to mention when discussing nutrition is hydration. That doesn’t mean guzzling water; it can be toxic to drink too much. But adding a glass of water to your meals is nutritious.
If you distill your eating down to these basics, you’ve pretty much covered most of what constitutes good nutrition. The key, I believe, is to focus on what you can eat to fuel your body, as opposed to focusing on what you need to eliminate; sure, you should avoid junk food, but the way to do that is to enjoy nutritious food.
The only other tip I’d offer is to replace eating snacks with eating meals. What do I mean? To me, a meal may be very small, but it includes both protein and carbs/fats, whereas a snack is usually just carbs/fats. By adding in the protein, it will help with satiety and portion control (so, in other words, don’t just eat an apple. Add some cheese, or peanut butter. Voila: more complete nutrition)
Now, since this thread was inspired by the workout thread, bodybuilders would tweak the information above somewhat:
Since protein is necessary for building muscle, they tend to consume more protein than most people (the usual rule of thumb is 1 gram per pound of bodyweight). Many medical professionals will tell you this is too high, but the bodybuilders do put on a lot of muscle.
In part because of the need to consume a lot of protein, and in an effort to maintain consistent blood sugar levels, bodybuilders tend to eat frequently: 6 times a day is the norm. As I said, these would be “complete meals”, usually every 3 hours or so.
That’s what I do (although I am far from a big bodybuilder): 6 meal spaced pretty evenly throughout the day. And I eat quite basic: a typical one is a bowl of steel cut oatmeal, 2-3 ounces of top round steak, and an orange.
My goal is a high protein, high fiber diet. Each meal has some fiber source (I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables), and my protein typically comes from beef, chicken, eggs, and yogurt (I also have some protein powder during the day, and my post workout meal is a bowl of cereal with milk).
I should note that I certainly fall off the wagon occasionally: when I do, though, I tend to skip meals - I won’t eat until lunchtime, which ends up being my only real meal of the day - and I feast on candy and soda. Not a good way to be.
