Kim & Sean Smith   We went raw on Oct. 31 2003. Kim had been a vegan since 1991 and Sean since 2001, we were also all organic at the time. A few weeks before going raw, we had a blast searching every raw website we could find. Kim read and read and wanted more! Sean got her the 12 Steps to Raw Foods by Victoria Boutenko & the Raw UNcook Book by Juliano, on her birthday (Oct 31st) and we went to the Go Raw Cafe, here in Las Vegas, NV. for dinner. Kim had been suffering from food allergies for many years and this was the first time she had eaten in a restaurant for six years. She decided that she would take the risk and eat whatever she wanted, and worry about allergic reactions later. SHE NEVER HAD AN ALLERGIC REACTION! After the next few days we read Twelve Steps to Raw & went 100% raw. We donated all of our pots and pans, the microwave, (that we hadn't used for years), and our pasta, rice, and dried beans. We both went through some rough early detox's, but we have never felt healthier, or happier. Great things started happening after we chose living foods, like a new positive energy was surrounding us. Sean and Kim started volunteering at the Go Raw Cafe in Las Vegas, and we have made so many great friends in the living foods community, that understand us and share our way of life. KIM'S STORY Kim with food allergies, 1996 When I was 18, I gave up eating red meat, always knowing in my heart I wanted to be a vegetarian. In 1991 I took the leap and soon became vegan after that. It was in 1996 that I found out that I had food allergies as a result of leaky-gut syndrome and candida. I gave up all of the foods I had reactions to, including any sugars and fruits. In the summer of 2000 I decided to go all organic after trying to reintroduce fruit into my diet, and breaking out in hives the size of quarters from head to toe, including the palms of my hands and the bottom of my feet. I gained 13 pounds of fluid and had the hives for 3 and 1/2 weeks, luckily it was summer because none of my shoes fit and I had to wear flip-flops. Finally after 3 and 1/2 weeks of scratching, I went to my chiropractor for an adjustment. The next day the fluid retention was gone and the hives finally started disappearing. Needless to say, I became very afraid of eating fruit. I just wished I would have known what I know now as a living foodist...my body was just detoxing, it was using the fresh fruit to clean out the toxins. I have been battling weight problems since I was a teenager, even while I was eating a vegan, all organic diet, and preparing all of my food from scratch, with exercise and careful calorie counting. Nothing seemed to work at getting me to my goal weight, and when I did lose  weight, I knew I couldn't live the rest of my life on the small amount of food I was eating. GREAT NEWS... since going RAW, I can eat anything without having any allergic reactions, and I've been steadily losing weight while eating whatever and however much I want! I feel wonderful and have so much more energy than I ever had before. Click here for more info about KIM. SEAN'S STORY When I was growing up, my parents made most of my meals from "scratch". I ate very little fast food, and even less junk food. Still I suffered bad vision, nervousness, allergies, flu's and fevers. When I became a teenager, I found a love for pizza, chips, fast food and soda. I lived for many years on this amazing diet, surprisingly my allergies, my vision, and everything became worse! Okay, it's not much of a surprise, how I survived was! I started having heartburn all the time, I felt lazy, and never left the house except to go to work and get fast food, or junk food at the grocery store. Because of my high metabolism, I never put two and two together, and realized that my diet was doing me harm. I had been under the false assumption that if you were unhealthy you gained weight. When Kim and I met, she knew how horrible my diet was leaving me feeling. She introduced me to veganism and told me about the great vegan, and vegetarian foods that were at the store. I tried it and liked it, but I was still using a microwave, and eating lots of junk. When we started seeing each other, I made a conscious decision to start eating better. Over one year I made the transition from a SAD diet, to an organic vegan diet. I started feeling much better, but I still had allergies, and I knew I needed something more. I tried supplements, and though they helped, their effects were weak at best. When Kim and I started learning about raw foods, we knew that it was the logical next step to taking control of our health. It was not an easy transition, but I knew that even though I had come far already, there was no reason not to at least try it out, and see if I felt better. Since then I have had major detox's 3 or 4 times, and after each time I felt like I have made a major leap towards the feeling of energy and vibrancy that I have missed since being a child. I now look forward to the rewards each day brings, knowing that I have a long and fruitful life ahead of me.  Click here for more info about SEAN.