Nutrition when in pursue of a chiselled body

I often get questions about dieting and nutrition. In the near future Penandbarbell.com will contain a lot of content that addresses these issues – but already today I will give some basic guidelines on how you should approach the question of nutrition when in pursue of a chiselled and strong physique:

Prioritize nutritious food. This might seem self-written, but the fact is that people spend a lot more time considering the amount of calories in their food than the nutritious content.
Eat natural and healthy food. Again, this may seem too obvious to be stated, but, as so often is the case in many different areas of life, we must get a firm grip of the basics before we can focus on the details. Many, if not most, people know what “natural” and “healthy” means – but they are still unable to live in accordance with their knowledge. If you are one of them, then this is the first priority when it comes to nutrition – to start living in accordance with what you already know.
Don´t fear carbs. On the contrary, make sure you get sufficent amounts of them. Just take care to get your carbs from good nutritious sources, like vegetables, brown rice and potatoes.
About eating habits: personally I only eat about 3 times a day – far from the old bodybuilding myth that you have to eat 6 times a day. This, however, doesn’t mean that I think someone is wrong if they choose to eat often and regularly. It’s about learning what you, yourself, get the most benefits from. It’s a matter of personal preferences. One can always try it out in a systematic manner, if one feel uncertain of which kind of regime one wants to follow. Give the different approaches a couple of months each. Then you can compare levels of energy, strength and your general feelings of well-being.
You don’t need to take supplements. You don’t need to take protein powder. You don’t need to take creatine. Personally I never use any of these, and I never have. Good, natural and nutritious food is always the best way to go. /Daniel Schou