V bento is packing a whole meal in one container making the maximum use of space. The meals are balanced. In Japan they use a certain ratio of rice to meat to veggies, but here it's more flexible. I prefer two veggies, one fruit, two proteins, and one to two carbs (just one for my daughter, sometimes two for me). I pack for the whole workday - lunch and snacks in one box. You aim for the widest range of colors (more color = more nutrition), and I have a particular thing about balancing sweet and savory so that savory always wins out by a serving or two. For kids the big thing is to make the food cute by designing things out of it. Like for example for Halloween I like to peel a mandarin and stick a bit of cucumber in the middle that's cut to look like a stem, and there you have a cute pumpkin. I don't go crazy with the cute designs like some people, but I do employ a lot of cookie cutters, sandwich cutters, food picks, silicone cups/dividers, and cute mini containers. It's a lot of fun, kinda crafty, and my daughter loves her lunches. I don't do anything fancy for myself, but I do aim for the balance I like. I think I have a picture of my new lunchbox I took the other day to show my friend (also a bento enthusiast). I'll see if I can load it.