Here are the rules I have for my diet so far:
-At least 1 carb + protein source every morning to wake me up. (Cereal, 1 banana, or a few strawberries + a protein source like a power bar.) Followed by multi-vitamin + fish oil or flax seed oil.
-Fiber at least every other meal.
-High Fat + Protein to keep my metabolism going. This is usually through low carb power bars, almonds, unsalted pea nuts, peanut butter + celery, or peanut butter + whole wheat. (ordered by the source's ability to not store fat, the whole wheat option has a LOT of peanut butter on one slice of bread.) I consider this part of my diet as a PLACEHOLDER, something to keep my metabolism going and helping recovery times. Any foods that are low carb and close to pure protein I use as placeholders and build my diet off of them. This is a solid foundation that prevents you from getting too fat, though PB is kind of high in saturated fats, there are just few cheap & tasty alternatives. (Almonds are much more expensive, though they have a higher polyunsaturated fat content
-At least a few times a week I eat out (like subway, just order double-meat, a restraunt order salmon or steak) to fill in holes for beef, fish, turkey, green veggies, anti-oxidants, etc. I haven't completely given into the large quantity veggie diet most people use because I'm not a 100% bulker... yet.
-If I'm bulking I'll take this stuff:
http://www.gncproperformance.com/news/article/Default.aspx?id=27&lang=en
to take care of any major bulking diet holes.
That's pretty much my basic as hell diet. I used to do the stuff like use olive oil as dressing for spinach salads and make turkey sandwiches, etc. but this works better for me because its simpler starting out and it works with very little food prep. I even cut out green tea eventually because the prep time involved! Any variation of diet I get from eating out, and my base diet becomes more varied all the time.
If you can afford them and don't mind taking a trip down processed food-lane (we all need to start somewhere):
1. Lowfat + Carb + Protein + Nutrient + Fiber source:
http://www.powerbar.com/Products/ProteinPlus/
This is for replacing a quick 2-3 hour meal that you'd like to get some energy & carbs or fiber from.
2. Fat + Protein + Nutrient source:
http://www.powerbar.com/Products/ProteinPlusCS/
This is a placeholder for a quick 2-3 hour meal that you'd like to use to just keep your metabolism going, or to keep from feeling hungry, but you know you won't be doing any activity for a while so no carbs (which commonly means no fiber :\)
I definately am interested in this thread if there are any suggestions for whole foods ( or hell: even processed) that fill any of the major dietary sources with less than a minute of prep time. I know that seems like a ridiculous limitation, but I don't have the attention span to learn to cook and I doubt I'll ever really get in to it, though I still care about what I eat.
Call me crazy but I just listed a whole slew of healthy foods that take practically 0 prep time, so I know people have found others
I consume between 1600-1800 calories on a maintenance day and drink around 3-4 liters of water a day, or 6-8 bottles.
EDIT: I also keep juices around. Orange juice on occasion, though its very acid-like. Cranberry for urinary tract & Apple juice for iron & liver. The apple juice nearly saved my life from a bad experience with viccodin & alcohol after I had my wisdom teeth removed. You're supposed to get the pure forms and not use the sucrose boosted variety, but I find sometimes they go together well when you just really need an insulin boost.
