Hello everyone! I am Courtney and am an expat living/working in London for now. I am 41 and am primarily vegetarian though I do eat seafood occasionally. I asked for (and received!) a bento box for Christmas so I am very new to this. My reasons for bento-ing are: portion control ~ to help lose a few pounds. health ~ the canteen at work has no concept of healthy eating besides offering fruit. fun ~ I like the idea of trying to come up with a cool lunch. One of my challenges will be to come up with meals that do not require microwaving since I feel strongly about not using them. I do have a small wide mouth thermos for soups etc, but basically I will just try to get by on a refrigerated lunch. Another challenge is that I am a mediocre to terrible cook. I am learning, but I really need a lot of help from others at this point! Can't wait to see how this challenge goes and am looking forward to being inspired by all of you!