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Create an Emergency Food Backup

Some days, cooking, shopping, planning or even deciding what to eat can feel like too much. This might happen because of low energy, executive functioning difficulties, sensory overload, anxiety, illness, low mood, burnout or simply having an exceptionally demanding day.

An emergency food backup means having a few reliable, low-effort foods available before you need them.

It isn't about creating the perfect meal. It is about making eating more accessible on difficult days.

What Makes a Good Backup Food?

Choose foods that are genuinely manageable for you.

Think about foods that are:

Familiar • acceptable • easy to prepare • predictable • affordable • easy to store • require few decisions

For someone with sensory needs or ARFID, a familiar brand, texture, flavour or preparation method may be particularly important.

Build Backups in Different Places

Having everything in one place isn't always helpful. Think about where you are likely to need food.

Cupboard

Choose foods with a longer shelf life that require little preparation.

My cupboard backups:

Freezer

Frozen food can reduce the pressure to cook from scratch and can help prevent food being wasted.

My freezer backups:

Fridge

Think about foods you can open, assemble or eat immediately.

My fridge backups:

Bag / Workplace / Car

If appropriate and safe to store, keep something available for times when you are away from home, delayed, hyperfocused or unexpectedly hungry.

My portable backups:

Think in Levels of Energy

Your backup foods can also match how much capacity you have.

Very low energy:
Something you can open and eat.

A little energy:
Something you can microwave, toast or heat.

More capacity:
Something simple you can assemble from two or three familiar ingredients.

This means you don't have to expect your lowest-energy self to cook like your highest-energy self.

Create a “No Decisions” Option

Choose one meal or combination that you can automatically turn to when deciding feels impossible.

My no-decisions meal is:

It doesn't need to be exciting or beautifully presented. It needs to be something you are realistically able to eat.

Add Rather Than Perfect

If your backup starts with one safe or familiar food, that's okay.

If it feels manageable, you could add something alongside it for additional energy, protein, carbohydrate, fats, fibre or variety.

But eating the safe food alone is still eating.

Remember to Restock

A backup only helps when it's actually there.

You could:

Keep one spare • add it to your regular shopping list • use a visual reminder • reorder when you open the last one • ask someone to help you keep essentials stocked

Your Emergency Food Plan

When I'm overwhelmed, I usually struggle with:

Foods I can usually manage even then:

Where I'll keep them:

What will remind me to restock:

Something Is Better Than an Ideal That Isn't Accessible

On difficult days, asking:

“What can I realistically eat right now?”

may be far more useful than:

“What should I cook?”

Your emergency food backup isn't a failure to cook properly. It's a practical strategy that recognises that capacity changes from day to day.

Make food easier to access before you reach the moment when everything feels difficult.

Space to Breathe

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