When Caroline moved to Austin, she knew that she was facing an exciting challenge. Freshly returned from serving in the Peace Corps and new to the Austin scene, she was in need of a job, an apartment, a social life, and a makeover. “After months without shoes, bathing out of a bucket, and a non-existent beauty routine, I wasn’t exactly the best version of my self,” Caroline explains, “Living without a mirror in your home can have that effect!”
She locked down an apartment and job in no time, and little by little, she met friends through work, her apartment complex, and yoga classes. But the physical part was a little harder than a set of blond highlights and trading her printed lambas for jeans. “In Africa, we had little control over out diets – we ate what was available in our local market. A diet that is rice, rice, rice, and oil based sauces, will cause some people to gain weight. Completely eliminate whatever exercise you hoped to get, for the sake of avoiding harassment, and it can do less than nice things to your body.”
She joined a gym, got a five-day routine in place, and got down to business. “I know that your diet is 80% of it when it comes to weight loss, but buying and cooking for one person, in a cost effective AND healthy way, just started to feel impossible. I’d be eating the same soup for four days, even the same salad. Food would go bad before I could eat it and I spent way too much time at the grocery store. I got so sick of eating the same thing, day after day, that I’d start cheating on my diet. I just wasn’t making the kind of progress I was looking for. I’m the first to admit I can be a little short in the ‘patience department’, but I was being sloppy.”
Lucky for Caroline, one of her former Vanderbilt classmates had been living in Austin for a while, and knew just where to direct her. “I had driven by Snap Kitchen a few times, but once she told me about it, I figured I should give it a shot.”
Thirty pounds, two dress sizes, and six months later, Caroline is a regular Snapper. “The role that Snap has played in my weight loss is undeniable. I couldn’t have done it without exercising, but without a great diet, it would have taken me at least twice as long to get to where I am. And, as much as I love Whole Foods, I think my bank account really appreciates the reduced frequency. Snap is just as fresh and fantastic, but much more cost-effective for a single girl!”
Favorite lunch: “Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry and Chimmichurri Chicken. I could literally eat these two things every single day.”
Favorite dessert: “Chocolate chip cookies…a revamped classic for us cookie monsters!”
