Michael Lippman

If you’re new to this blog, it started with a rash , a bad rash, a mysterious rash covering large portions of my body, an extremely persistent rash.  The rash lasted half a year, getting progressively worse for 3 or 4 months, scaring the crap out of me.  The itching sometimes kept me up for hours at night.  Every Western doctor had a different diagnosis, and every one had a different medication to prescribe – all of which made the rash worse. 

Finally, I went to see an acupuncturist who called it a “virus” (putting “virus” in quotes even as he said the word).  He gave me some Chinese herbs and some serious dietary restrictions: no red meat,  no shellfish, no coffee, no alcohol, no spicy food.  I cut these foods out of my diet completely, focused on eating fruits and vegetables, and finally began to heal. 

The healing was slow, and there were setbacks, but when I was strict with my diet there was steady improvement.  The acupuncturist assured me I was not “allergic” to these restricted foods, and that once the rash was “completely resolved” I would be able to eat these foods again.  In fact, he said that the idea of “allergies” does not exist at all in Chinese medicine.(!)

This “dietary cure” made me extremely conscious about food and about what food I'm putting into my body.  In fact, it made me conscious of my body.

Now that the rash is almost completely gone, the itching reduced to almost nothing, I'm regressing intensely in my eating habits.  I'm eating like hell.  Cheeseburgers galore.  French fries.  Shrimp, scallops, oysters, you name it.  Steak, why not steak?  I love steak!  Coffee up the whazoo.  2 cappucinos and a regular cup of coffee ... every day.  Wine?  Oh, bring it on.  Let me love you, baby!  

I realize now: it was the rash that forced me onto the healing path, and it was the rash that gave me consciousness.   

And I also realize that if I want my consciousness to continue to expand, if I want to have a real relationship to my body and to food, I need a new symptom to work with. 

And I found one: my 25 pounds of extra weight . 

So I'm working with that.  My weight issues.  And that's a doozy, because those have been with me for a very long time.

The bigger point is this, I'm on a quest here.  I just turned 42 last week, August 11, 2008.  I have a wife and a two year old daughter.  Who knows what's gonna happen on this crazy f-cking planet.  I want to be healthy, and strong, and wise, and clear.  And that has everything to do with FOOD. 

This is a quest to discover what food is -- for me.

Come along on this ride with me.   It's going to be a long and winding road, yes.  There will be a lot of ugly sights along the way , yes.  But we're going somewhere, I promise.