Sunday has always been my food-shopping day. I usually end up going to two or three different markets to get everything I want for the week, and then I come home and start getting things ready. It's a routine I've had for years, but I'm also very aware that what works for me isn't realistic for everyone.

Meal prep takes time. Grocery shopping takes time. And by the time you've planned what you're going to eat, made the list, gone to the store, washed and chopped everything, cooked a few things and cleaned the kitchen, a good portion of Sunday can disappear. If you're working weekends, caring for children or parents, juggling activities or simply don't have easy access to the stores you need, an elaborate Sunday meal-prep routine may not be possible at all.

And yet, there is that version of meal prep we've all seen. Matching containers lined up across the counter. Perfectly portioned proteins, grains and vegetables. Five lunches prepared at once and a refrigerator that somehow still looks immaculate when it's finished.

It looks organized. It looks healthy. And for some people, it probably works beautifully. But meal prep doesn't have to look like that to make a difference.

What if meal prep didn't mean preparing all the meals?

Maybe it's simply doing enough today that tomorrow's lunch or Tuesday night's dinner doesn't have to begin from zero. Cook extra rice while you're already making rice. Wash the berries when you bring them home. Chop the whole onion instead of half of it. Make enough vegetables for tonight and tomorrow.

Meal prep was supposed to make life easier. Maybe that's still the best measure of whether it's working.

There is research behind the idea of planning ahead. A large observational study of more than 40,000 adults found that people who planned their meals were more likely to have greater food variety and better overall diet quality. Other research has associated spending more time preparing food at home with eating fruits, vegetables and salads more frequently.

But there's another side to those findings that matters just as much: time. Adults who spent less time preparing food tended to be working adults who placed a higher value on convenience. That's not particularly surprising. We can care deeply about how we eat and still not have an hour every evening to make dinner.

There are going to be nights when grabbing something on the way home is the most realistic choice. Sometimes the kids have practice, work runs late, we're exhausted or the refrigerator simply doesn't contain anything that can become dinner quickly enough. Convenience isn't evidence that we've somehow failed at wellness. It's part of real life.

But having even one or two things ready can give us another option on those nights.

Sometimes the answer isn't finding more time. It's needing less of it.

This is probably the way I think about meal prep most often. Instead of deciding exactly what you're going to want for lunch four days from now, prepare a few things that can go in different directions.

A cooked grain can become part of a bowl tonight and a side dish tomorrow. Roasted vegetables can go into eggs, salads, wraps or pasta. Chicken, tofu, beans or lentils can become the beginning of lunch without another full cooking session. A dressing, pesto or hummus can make the same basic ingredients taste completely different.

And meal prep doesn't have to stop with dinner. Sometimes one small morning habit can make the beginning of the day easier too. Maybe you cut up the fruit you use for smoothies. Make overnight oats in a few small containers so they're ready to grab in the morning. Fill a water bottle and put it in the refrigerator. Set up the coffee for the next morning or have your tea where you can easily reach for it.

These things sound almost too small to call meal prep, but that's really the point.

You're reducing the number of things your future self has to do.

And some of those things don't have to be done by you at all. A bag of washed greens counts. Frozen vegetables count. Canned beans count. Pre-cut vegetables count. Microwaveable grains count. A rotisserie chicken or another prepared protein can count too.

Convenience and nourishment don't have to sit on opposite sides of the table. Sometimes the shortcut is precisely what makes eating at home possible.

Thoughtful, practical ideas for feeling well in real life. Join the Aligned & Well newsletter for research-informed guidance on nourishment, movement, mindful living, and seasonal well-being.

There's another part of food preparation I've been thinking about lately. Periodic food recalls are reminders of how far some of our food travels before it reaches our kitchens. Food may be grown, harvested, processed, packaged, transported and handled many times before we ever place it on the counter.

That doesn't mean we need to become fearful of our food. But it does make the simple things we do once it reaches our kitchen worth remembering.

For fresh produce, that can mean rinsing it thoroughly under running water before preparing or eating it, unless it's packaged and labeled as already washed or ready to eat. It means beginning with clean hands and surfaces, keeping raw foods separate from foods that are ready to eat, storing perishable foods properly and paying attention when a food-safety notice affects something we've purchased.

Washing produce can reduce bacteria, but it can't eliminate every possible pathogen. If a food has actually been recalled, washing it doesn't make it safe to eat, and the recall instructions should always be followed.

I've also become more interested in knowing where my food comes from. When it's practical, buying from local farmers or growers can give us a closer connection to what's in season and to the people producing our food. Local doesn't automatically mean safer, but there is something valuable about understanding a little more about the food we're bringing home.

Maybe food prep isn't only about what we make ahead. It's also about how we choose, handle and care for the food we're going to eat.

There is something else I've learned about meal prep that has nothing to do with what's in my refrigerator.

My kids watched me do this for years. I don't think I thought much about it at the time. I was simply grocery shopping, getting food ready and doing what needed to be done to make the week run a little more smoothly.

Then they went off to college and eventually began living on their own. And somewhere along the way, I realized they were doing it too. They meal prep.

I never thought I would see the day.

It has been a funny reminder that the everyday things we do around our families don't always go unnoticed, even when it seems as though no one is paying attention. When we wash the fruit, get breakfast ready for the next morning, pack lunches or make enough dinner to have something for tomorrow, we're not only preparing food. We're quietly demonstrating how to take care of ourselves when life gets busy.

And meal prep doesn't have to be something one person does for everyone else. If you have children who are old enough to help, give them the berries to wash or the vegetables to rinse. A spouse or partner can chop while someone else cooks. One person can portion snacks while another gets breakfast ready for the next morning. Even deciding together what everyone would actually like to eat during the week can make the planning easier.

It can become time together in the kitchen rather than another chore that belongs to one person. Put on some music, talk about the week ahead and divide up what needs to be done. Everyone doesn't have to do everything. A few people doing one small thing can make the whole week easier.

And maybe that's part of what our kids eventually carry with them. Not necessarily our exact recipes or our Sunday routine, but the understanding that feeding ourselves well sometimes takes a little planning, and that caring for ourselves is something worth making time for.

That doesn't mean every family needs a Sunday meal-prep routine. But I do think there's something meaningful about letting the people around us participate in the process. Sometimes we're not only preparing food for the week ahead.

We're teaching a habit they may take with them when they're eventually preparing food for themselves.

If a full meal-prep day sounds exhausting, don't have one. Instead, look at the next few days and choose three things that would make them easier.

Start with one meal component you can use more than once. Maybe it's rice, quinoa, potatoes, roasted vegetables, greens or a protein you can turn into several different meals. Then prepare one grab-and-go option. Make overnight oats, wash and cut fruit, portion something for a snack or put smoothie ingredients together. Choose something that helps during the part of your day when you're most likely to be rushed.

Finally, prepare one thing you regularly reach for. Get the coffee ready. Put your tea where you'll see it. Fill the water bottles. Wash the vegetables you know you'll use.

Then stop.

You don't need to know exactly what every ingredient will become, and you certainly don't need five matching containers lined up in the refrigerator. You've simply given yourself a few places to start. And if three things feel like too much this week, prepare one. Change doesn't always have to be big to make life a little easier.

Something ready is more useful than an elaborate meal-prep plan you never had time to make.

Wellness advice has a way of taking helpful ideas and turning them into another standard we're supposed to meet. Meal prep started as a way to make eating during a busy week easier, yet somewhere along the way it became another thing we could feel as though we weren't doing well enough.

Maybe we can give it back its original purpose.

Reduce the friction. Share the work. Care for the food you prepare. And create habits your children can carry forward.

That may be a very different definition of meal prep than a refrigerator filled with perfectly portioned containers. It's less about getting everything right for the week ahead and more about creating a rhythm that makes taking care of ourselves, and the people around us, a little easier.

Cook a little extra when you're already cooking. Let the grocery store do some of the chopping. Ask someone else in the house to wash the fruit or prep the vegetables. Make tomorrow morning's breakfast tonight. Keep a few ingredients around that can become more than one meal. Use the shortcut when the shortcut is what makes the day work.

And remember that the people around you may be learning from these ordinary routines too. What feels like simply getting ready for another busy week may eventually become a habit your children carry into their own kitchens and their own lives.

There doesn't have to be a refrigerator filled with matching containers at the end of it. There just needs to be something that makes the next decision a little easier.

Maybe successful meal prep isn't about how much you prepare. It's about how much easier you've made the next meal.