In today's frantic world, few people eat all their meals at the table. If they get one meal a day at home, they’re lucky. In most cities, fast food does brisk business and it's not uncommon to see people rushing through the streets, munching furiously on anything they can hold in one hand. Find out how to eat healthy while on the go...

It's the same almost everywhere. There are kids to drive around, work, meetings to attend, friends to see, the gym, school, committees to chair and families to spend time with. Eating well is a challenge, to say the least.

In the midst of this controlled chaos, there also seems to be an unwritten law stating that the quality of food decreases as portability and accessibility increase.

So, when we grab a meal on-the-go, we're often faced with horrible sugar-laden foods, processed meat sandwiches, stagnant salad or sandwich bars, office snack machines, fast food chains and other standard ‘take-me-with-you-as-you-travel’ food. And let's not even mention what you’re offered on an aeroplane.

So what should you do?

Become a pro at creating healthy, nutritious, satisfying meals with a limited amount of time.

Here are some suggestions for how to do just that:

1. Think Ahead. We get into trouble when we wait until starvation hits before taking action. And, who’s going to win when you come face-to-face with an office snack machine at four o’clock? Don’t answer that. The truth is, a little planning goes a long way, so if you know you're going to be stuck in a meeting all afternoon, take along something you can eat quickly and discreetly to keep your blood sugar from plummeting and your cravings at bay.
2. Lettuce is a great container. You can wrap some leftover chicken in a lettuce leaf and eat it in the car, or anywhere else. Throw on some tomatoes, and a little olive oil and you've got a decent mini-meal. A couple of leaves of red-leaf lettuce make a great 'wrap' and the contents are limited only by your imagination.
3. Find healthy food that travels well. Some suggestions: cottage cheese, yoghurt, celery, peppers, carrots and apples. Throw some berries into a plastic container with cottage cheese and nuts and take it in the car with you.
4. Make it the night before. For a new sensation, try taking a baked new potato as a snack. They're as portable as you can get, they taste great cold and are a veritable vitamin store.
5. Think unusual foods. The most healthy 'energy bar' you can get is a lean-meat organic sausage. Grill right through, mop off the fat with kitchen roll and you’re away.
6. Think differently. One person's ‘unusual’ is another person's delicious, so experiment with your food choices. Cut up an apple and eat it with a single serving of tuna, for example. Ditto with celery. Or discover your own combinations with accessible foods like nuts, cheese, fruit and seeds. Use them creatively, or eat them straight out of the package.
7. Use your blender. Many office-bound people forget that a blender is an easy accessory to keep in the company kitchen. Buy some fruit and plain yoghurt, add some low-fat milk and blend it together for a low-fat, healthy smoothie.
8. Ditto for the microwave. It only takes about four minutes to make real porridge (not the packaged kind), and you can add some dried fruit or soya milk and take it with you anywhere in a lidded container. Plus, if you sweeten it with some honey and then let it get cold, it almost tastes like dessert.
9. Make a list. Until you get good at this, don't try to think on your feet. Make a list in advance of possible combinations that might be available wherever you're going, or that you could easily take with you. One of my favorites is celery with cottage cheese. There's got to be at least a half-dozen others just as good. Discover them.
10. Vegetable juice is a lifesaver. Fresh vegetable juice is one of the best things for you, but in a pinch there's always canned tomato juice and V-8. It takes the edge off your appetite and quenches cravings like nothing else around, and you can get it anywhere. Add celery, leave out the vodka, and you'll almost feel like it's happy hour.