Hello, I'm Amy and I live in Columbus Ohio, and I've been lurking around this site for a while, but now I decided to try and join the forum. I hope I get a lot of nice ideas for more interesting lunches. I was out of work for a good part of the year last year, and when I finally started working again, I didn't feel comfortable spending money on lunch. I'm in "training" mode, so my lunch is only 45 minutes, not enough time to go very far. I started reading Just Bento, and I actively started making my lunches in an oblong Rubbermaid container. After a couple of months I bought a couple of boxes from Ichiban Kan and I haven't looked back. I initially wanted to use my boxed lunches to control my portions and lose some weight, and to just make my lunches so nice that I didn't mind not going out. It's been three months, and it's working so far. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure last month (it runs in my family, but the past few years of stress have probably hastened the process), so now I'm trying to cut back on salt. It's rough on a person that loves their soy sauce and Sriracha hot sauce, but I can get the flavor with less, and sometimes I spoil myself, because I know I can still make something nice and healthy to make up for it. Hopefully losing weight and making healthy meals will help get my condition under control. I make meals with or without meat, so I'm open to everything. I hope I get to know all a little better.