Eat small, eat often

Now that we've learned the basis of nutrition, what do we eat?
 

Ideally, each meal should have a little of protein, carbs and fat, while making protein (chicken, fish, tofu, eggs, beef, whey, cottage cheese, etc.) the focal point of your meal (about 45%). Carbohydrates should be complex, and from whole grains and vegetables (if you find that you are responsive to carbs, try getting the bulk of your carbs from vegetables)(about 35%). Fat should be either EFAs or unsaturated, if possible, such as a spoonful of olive oil, a bit of avocado, some nuts, fish oil, etc. (about 20%).

Overall caloric intake

For fat loss, aim for about 10-12 multiplied by your bodyweight. This gives you your daily caloric intake. For a 130-lb person, this is:

10 x 130 = 1300
12 x 130 = 1550

So, that means your daily intake of calories should be between 1300 and 1550 calories per day. Divide that by 5 or 6, and you have the total number of calories for each meal. Assuming we're eating the upper limit of 1550 calories daily, and we want to eat 6 meals, that means each meal should be around 258 calories. Now think about this. A can of tuna is around 160 calories. Throw that into a nice salad with olive oil vinaigrette and you have a very pleasant 250 calories. You can have 6 of those a day!

Maintenance calories (the calories needed to keep you in a steady state, neither gaining nor losing mass) are around
14-16 x bodyweight per day for an active woman. This will vary depending on the individual.

The caloric intake to gain mass is about 15-18 x bodyweight per day. Again, this varies on the individual. Activity is a big component of variation. The more active a woman is, the more she requires just to keep at the same weight. Age and fat-free body mass are also other significant components. In other words, a 150 lb person with 10% body fat will likely not have the same caloric requirements as a 150 lb. person with 40% body fat. The second person can drop calories lower than the first person, without initiating an anti-starvation response. If the second person tries to lose body fat, she will also likely lose it faster than the first person.