How, What and When should I eat??

So....I've been reading into fitness magazine quite a lot and have come to the conclusion that my workout routine is not the only thing I need to revamp, however this is a problem for me. Because I've always been pretty active I've always had a pretty rocking metabolism so to maintain a slim figure dieting was never really necessary. But I've discovered that to maintain a rockin physique it is, my dilemma is that I have no clue HOW to change my diet. You see one of my pet peeves has always been prissy little female who turn away perfectly good meals because they're "watching they're figure" I'd rather not turn into one of those....So I suppose my challenge at this point to to figure out how to continue to eat like a REAL person without completely destroying any progress I've made in working out....I know that I need to maintain a balanced diet and that in essence almost nothing in moderation is really bad for you, even fat and sugar is necessary if done properly. I guess this call for more research on the matter...Well off to google I go, i guess I'll post my nutrition discoveries as I make them :)