This is my 100th blog post here on Hey Kaitlin Mary, no big deal. But today I'm going to share something a little personal, dieting. When it comes to my diet and weight, I can get a little sensitive, but I don't think I'm the only one out there who feels that way.

I've probably been dieting since middle school. I was always the chubby kid, so losing weight has always been on my mind, even as a child. And to this day, I'm still trying to lose weight. But I have much healthier habits now compared to when I was younger. I've focused more on a healthy lifestyle rather than losing weight quickly. Because shouldn't a healthy lifestyle and weight loss go hand in had? Or is that just me? But I digress.

So when I was chosen to test out the SlimFast VoxBox from Influenster, I was excited. For those of you who do not know about Influenster, it is a website where you review products and can actually test out products for free based on your social media influence. It's a fun place to look for new products and share your experience.

I was chosen to participate in the SlimFast VoxBox It's Your Thing, in the mail I received a little guideline about the SlimFast Diet and four products from SlimFast to test and review. So all the products included in this blog post, I received for free for testing purposes. The four products include: SlimFast Advanced Nutrition Meal Replacement Shake Vanilla Cream, SlimFast Advanced Nutrition Meal Replacement Bar Dark Chocolate Sea Salt, SlimFast Advanced Nutrition 100 Calorie Snack Baked Crisps Sour Cream and Onion, and SlimFast Advanced Nutrition 100 Calorie Snack Drizzled Crisps Cinnamon Bun Sugar.

The SlimFast Advanced Nutrition Plan is a simple diet plan and there are three steps:

• You replace two meals a day with a SlimFast meal replacement shake or bar.
• Eat one healthy meal (around 500 calories.)
• Enjoy three 100 calorie snacks or fruit or vegetables.

If you follow this plan you would be consuming around 1200 calories a day, which is the ideal number if you want to lose weight. Overall, I like the idea of 1200 calories a day. It is a good and healthy number, my stomach however disagrees. It can be tough and tricky, but if we want to shed those excess pounds we need to make it work.

So let's start off with the SlimFast meal replacement shakes. My SlimFast Advanced Nutrition Meal Replacement Shake Vanilla Cream was 180 calories and it was also high in protein and low in sugar. However, when I drank the vanilla shake all I could taste was sweetness and I have no idea where it came from. It was a little too sweet for my taste. The shake contains soy and lactose but it is gluten free, in case you wondering. It also said it had a four hour hunger control but for me, it only kept me full for two hours. This was one of the pre-made shakes they bottle up and sell, but personally I like the SlimFast powder that you mix in the blender. I've been drinking those for years and they're great for breakfast, I used to have them all the time before school. They're not as sweet as the prepackaged ones, and honestly I think they taste a lot better. Plus you can choose what kind of milk you want and how much powder you want, so you determine how many calories you have there.

The meal replacement bar is very similar to a granola bar. My SlimFast Advanced Nutrition Meal Replacement Bar Dark Chocolate Sea Salt was 190 calories and it was high in protein. It also contained soy and nuts. Overall the bar was delicious and not too sweet. Would I like eating a granola bar as a meal? Not really, but those bars were delicious... So I guess I'd have another.

So that's all of the the meal replacements, let's take a look at those snacks. The SlimFast Advanced Nutrition 100 Calorie Snack Baked Crisps Sour Cream and Onion were high in protein and fiber, and were also gluten free. They had a fluffy and puffy taste to them, and they certainly do not taste like chips. But for a diet snack, it can be a great chip alternative. It definitely tasted like a diet chip, and it takes some getting used to.

But for a sweet snack the SlimFast Advanced Nutrition 100 Calorie Snack Drizzled Crisps Cinnamon Bun Sugar did just the trick. They are high in protein and fiber and contain wheat, milk and soy. I'm not sure how to describe these snacks, it's not a chip and it's not a cookie, I guess you could say it's something in between. It's a sweet snack with frosting on top and it's pretty good and very filling for a snack.

Overall, the SlimFast It's Your Thing VoxBox from Influenster was a great box to receive! It was my first VoxBox to sample for free and I am very appreciative of it. I love SlimFast, and I've been a fan of their shake powder for a long time. So it was nice to try out some of their other products! I really enjoyed the meal replacement bar and the sweet 100 calorie crisps. I think their idea of a diet is a great idea that could work for some people.

However, I don't know if it would work for me long term. I'd get really sick of having the shakes and the meal replacement bars daily. And I don't know what it was, but something about this food left me feeling hungry all day. All I could think about was when it was time to eat next, which is a terrible feeling when you're trying to lose weight. But my hunger was rewarded, for the week I tried the SlimFast diet plan I lost two pounds!

Will I continue the SlimFast diet plan? Not necessarily. However, I will take their idea of a diet plan and make it my own. Instead of having a shake or bar for two meals, I'll find something around the same amount of calories for that part, and stick with the one 500 calorie healthy meal. When it comes to a healthy diet, it's all about balance, and that's what I'm trying to do. And hopefully it will continue to work!

For all my fellow dieters out there, good luck! I hope you all find a plan that works well for you. Happy weight loss and happy diets.

Until next time.

PS) I'm also required to post this:

I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

When you think of California, what's the first thing that pops into your mind? Beaches? Surfers? Mexican food? Amazing weather year round? All of these things are true, especially down in Southern California. But the city that does it best, well that's good old San Diego.

San Diego is a popular vacation spot in Southern California, and it is easy to see why! There is so much to do and see. Here are some of the best things that San Diego has to offer.

Gaslamp Quarter. An urban area with good restaurants, shopping, and nightlife, what else do you need? This neighborhood is the most lively area in downtown San Diego. Plus all the streets have actual gas lamps and they are pretty dang cute.

San Diego Convention Center. The convention center is the home of the world famous Comic Con! Plus if you're in the Gaslamp Quarter, you're nearby so why not take a peak at this famous convention center:

Balboa Park. This is not your normal park. It is an urban park filled with museums, walking paths, gardens, Spanish architecture, a giant fountain, and so much more. It's a great place to walk around and get some steps in all while enjoying a lovely view. This park offers some serenity in the urban environment.

Seaport Village. If you're interested in cute little quaint shops and restaurants, well then you'll fall in love with Seaport Village. This little village is the perfect place to walk around, and it even has a great view of the harbor!

San Diego Zoo. The San Diego Zoo is the best zoo in California, and maybe even the best in the United States. This zoo is one of the first zoos that pioneered the concept of the open air cageless exhibits, which are re-created like the animal's natural habitat. It is also one of the very few zoos that houses a giant panda! Almost every animal you can think of has a home in this zoo. The zoo is a better place to go to compared to Sea World, it has all the same fun and excitement, just without the animal cruelty.
Petco Park. If you're a sports fan, you've got to see the San Diego Padres play at Petco Park. The stadium is nice, and the Padres have become a better baseball team throughout the years. If you're in San Diego during baseball season, why not go out to an old ball game?

Cabrillo Tide Pools. For all the nature and marine life lovers out there, the Cabrillo Tide Pools are a must see. Enjoy exploring the shorelines while searching for marine life. Lots of crabs and other creatures live in the tide pools. What's cooler than seeing marine life in its natural habitat. Plus there's a cute lighthouse here too!

San Diego is one of the nicest cities in Southern California and it's perfect place for a family vacation or even romantic getaway. As Ron Burgundy said in the classic film Anchorman, "You stay classy, San Diego."

Until next time.

Happy New Year everyone! After taking a little blogging break after Blogmas, I figured it was about time to get back to work. So let's start off the 2016 edition of Hey Kaitlin Mary with a glam bag review.

The last glam bag of 2015 was called "For You With Love From ipsy." The overall theme as the glam bag being a present from ipsy was cute especially for December. So thank you ipsy for this lovely Christmas present that I pay for every month.

The bag itself was adorable, and it was almost like a little red clutch. Inside the clutch I received: Clark's Botanicals Deep Moisture Mask, Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Mechanical Eye Liner, ModelCo Lip Enhancer Illusion Lip Liner, Pacifica Power Of Love Natural Lipstick and Marc Anthony Hair Care Coconut Oil & Shea Butter Deep Conditioning Treatment.

First there is the Clark's Botanicals Deep Moisture Mask, and this product is unique to say the least. It can be used as a mask or a moisturizer, doesn't that seem strange? I understand a moisturizing mask but a mask that can also be used as a moisturizer is just strange. A mask you have to wash off but you let a moisturizer soak into your skin. How does it do both?! Ladies and gentlemen, this does not make sense!! As a mask, this product was strange because it acted more like a moisturizer. And as a moisturizer this product really shined as it softens and soothes your skin.

Next up in the glam bag there is the Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Mechanical Eye Liner. The idea of mechanical eye liner is genius, because sharpening eye liner pencils can be a huge pain. So instead of sharpening the eye liner, all you have to do is twist up if you want more. I received a black shade called Wild Child. The shade goes on super light and needs to be applied a lot if you want a nice bold black. The color is subtle rather than dark. The only great thing about this eye liner is the applicator, other than that it is simply okay.

Then there is the ModelCo Lip Enhancer Illusion Lip Liner. The packaging of this lip liner is misleading. I thought I was unwrapping a hot pink lip liner and I was so excited because I really have been wanting a hot pink lip liner. But unfortunately it was not hot pink, instead it was another nude shade. Yay... The shade was a natural nude, the exact color of my lips to be precise. The texture of the lip liner is rather odd and harsh, so it can be a little difficult to apply. Overall it was an okay product, and it wouldn't be a lip liner I'd use daily or often...

Next there is the Pacifica Power Of Love Natural Lipstick and I received the Tender Heart shade. Which indeed was a nude lipstick! I swear ipsy will only send me nude lipsticks and no matter how often I tell them that I do not like nude shades, I still get them anyways... But I digress, I normally love Pacifica's products but this lipstick was awfully disappointing. My lipstick was hard as a rock and extremely rough and dry on my lips. Now I don't know if every product was like mine, but I'd like to think that all of Pacifica's lipsticks are not terrible. So I'll just assume mine was part of a bad batch. The shade was boring and the quality was terrible, it made my lips chapped after wearing it for a couple hours.

And lastly but certainly not least, there is the Marc Anthony Hair Care Coconut Oil & Shea Butter Deep Conditioning Treatment. First off, I'd like to say I love Marc Anthony Hair Care. These products are probably the best quality and the most affordable hair care products on the market. I currently use the Coconut Oil & Shea Butter Conditioner as my daily conditioner and I love it. So to receive the deep conditioning version of this product in my glam bag made me extra excited. Why you ask? Well because I already knew this product would be amazing and that I would love it. Just like the regular conditioner, this deep conditioner makes my hair super soft and silky.

Overall, I wasn't that impressed with the quality of products I received in the December glam bag. One product was amazing while the other four were completely average. So thanks to the four meh products, I have to give the glam bag 2/5 stars. So maybe for 2016, ipsy's resolution should be to actually start using the ipsyMatch service when it comes to crafting glam bags.

Until next time.