A Self-Guided Educational Workbook

Decolonizing Food and Body™ Workbook

Reclaiming the foods, stories, and bodies we were taught to leave behind.

Five guided sections to help you name what colonization taught you about your food and your body, trace where those beliefs came from, and decide what you want to carry forward.

$27 instant PDF download

Get the Workbook

15 printable pages with space to write. Yours to keep.

Cover of the Decolonizing Food and Body Workbook by Tara Rivera, LMHCA

This Is an Inheritance

You were taught your food was too much.

Too heavy. Too smelly. Too oily, too rich, too much. Maybe you hid your lunch at school. Maybe you learned that a "healthy" plate looked like someone else's plate, and a "good" body looked like someone else's body.

That is not a personal failing. Colonization did not only take land and labor. It reshaped what people believed about their own food, skin, and bodies, and those beliefs were handed down long after the colonizers left.

You cannot set down what you cannot see. This workbook helps you see it.

It is not a diet. It contains no meal plans, calorie counts, or weight goals. It is a structured, reflective space to reconnect with your people, your history, and your own appetite.

What You'll Work Through

Five sections, at your own pace

Each section takes about 20 to 40 minutes. Move through it in a weekend, or one section a week.

Section 1

Naming the Inheritance

What colonial mentality is, and the everyday ways it shows up in how we eat and how we see our bodies.

Section 2

Your Food Lineage

A Food Lineage Map of your grandparents' foods, celebration foods, hidden foods, and the foods that were lost.

Section 3

Whose Body Ideal Is This?

A message-tracing worksheet: who taught you each belief about your body, and whose interests it serves.

Section 4

Reclaiming Without Rules

The One Food, One Story practice for reconnecting with a cultural food as identity, not as a project.

Section 5

Integration

Your personal commitments, and a letter to the younger you who first learned to feel ashamed.

Plus

A Note on Care

Guidance for going at your own pace, and support resources if strong feelings come up.

Inside page showing the Food Lineage Map worksheet

What's Included

Everything you need to begin

A 15-page printable PDF workbook, delivered instantly
Plain-language teaching on colonial mentality, food, and body
Guided reflection prompts with space to write by hand
The Food Lineage Map worksheet
The Message Tracing worksheet
The One Food, One Story practice
A personal commitments page and closing letter

Get the Workbook for $27

Is This for You?

Honest about who this serves

This workbook is for you if

You come from a culture shaped by colonization and feel a quiet shame around your family's food
You have noticed that your ideas of "healthy" and "beautiful" do not look like the people you come from
You want to reconnect with your food lineage without a new set of rules
You are a helper, educator, or clinician who wants language for this work

This workbook is not

A meal plan, diet, or weight loss program
Therapy, nutrition counseling, or medical advice
A substitute for eating disorder treatment. If you are struggling with your eating, please reach out to a qualified professional.

Your Guide

Tara Rivera, Ph.D.

Tara Rivera is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate in Washington State, a certified nutritionist, and holds a Ph.D. in Psychology. Her research examines colonial mentality and disordered eating among Filipina American women.

This workbook brings that research out of the academy and into a form you can hold, write in, and come back to.

Questions

Frequently asked

How do I receive the workbook?

Right after checkout you will get a download link for the PDF. You can fill it in on a tablet or print it and write by hand.

Is this therapy?

No. The Decolonizing Food and Body™ Workbook is an educational resource. It does not create a therapeutic relationship and is not a substitute for therapy, nutrition counseling, or medical care.

Do I need to be Filipino or Asian American to use it?

No. Tara's research focuses on Filipina American women, and the workbook is written for anyone whose culture, food, or body has been shaped by colonization.

Does it include meal plans or nutrition guidelines?

No, and that is intentional. Reclaiming your relationship with food is not a new diet.

What is your refund policy?

All sales are final. Because the workbook is a digital download delivered instantly at purchase, refunds are not available. If you have any trouble accessing your file, reach out to tara@tararivera.com and we will make sure you receive it.

Begin with what you come from.

The Decolonizing Food and Body™ Workbook. Five sections, 15 pages, yours to keep.

$27

Get the Workbook

A note on care. This workbook is for educational purposes only and is not therapy, nutrition counseling, or medical advice. If you need support with eating, contact the National Alliance for Eating Disorders Helpline at (866) 662-1235. If you are in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency.