Nutritiondata.com is a site that I came across quite some time ago and it's quite an excellent resource. I don't know if you saw this coming, but the site provides nutrition information on an ever expanding list of food items. Rather than reading about it, check it out for yourself. Here's Spinach:
As you can see, each food entry has several main components:
-the Nutrition Facts Label (which can be adjusted by serving size)
-a Nutritional Target Map, which graphically represents how nutritious and filling the food item is
-a Caloric Ratio Pyramid, which shows what percentage fat, carb, or protein the food item is
-a quick assessment by Nutritiondata
-a Nutrient Balance graph, along with the corresponding 'completeness score'
-a Protein Quality Graph, which depicts the amino acid profile of the food item
image courtesty of http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/food/review2.php
One of my most common lunches now is a Spinach salad (with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, sunflower seeds, celery, some cranberries if I'm lucky, and light shredded mozarella cheese to top it off). I recommend it highly.
A good friend and previous housemate of mine, who has muscular definition beyond description, would eat a massive bowl of spinach (just spinach, nothing else) before bed and have a big bowl of spinach mid-day. He practically ate his bodyweight in Spinach daily, and given the nutrition facts posted at the link and his personal results, it appears that Spinach is the way to go. Nutritiondata can help you find other excellent food choices as well. For example, I was surprised to learn how highly pickles score (http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/3013/2 ).
Here's another real world example that demonstrates the benefit of sites like Nutritiondata.
"You're in Starbucks. You just had an excellent morning session at Master's and, as a reward for moving up a lane and cementing yourself in the elite class of the buoy-line enforced hierarchy, decide to purchase a tasty beverage. A frappuccino catches your attention, and your mind rapidly decided, you realize that there could be no other. Suddenly, you spot the Starbucks logo and realize you never really looked at it before.
"That mermaid is topless," you say to yourself, and your mind wonders as you contemplate why it appears to have two tales.
The cheerful cry of a distant barista brings you back to attention. It's nearly time to order. Having settled on a delicious frappuccino, you know that you need to try and mitigate the damages. You pull out your trusty iphone (given how many people have these things it's likely that you do) and pull up nutritiondata.com. You know that only a caramel frappuccino will satisfy your perverse desire to undo the the benefits of exercise that you worked so hard for. Searching for 'caramel frappuccino' you find this-http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/foods-from-starbucks/9603/2 - and learn that a Grande will run you 260 calories and 45 g of sugar. But you remember that beneath the Caramel Frappuccino on the search listing was a Light option. You pull it up - http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/foods-from-starbucks/9623/2 - and learn that a Grande Light will only entail consuming 167 calories and a paltry 25g of sugar."
As clearly demonstrated in the above true-to-life scenario, websites like nutritiondata.com can be useful assets to optimize your diet to truly take advantage of your training. The site has quite a few more features than those I've mentioned, you should give them a look.
Obligatory note: other than using the site, I have no relationship with nutritiondata.com
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