Who eats the crust of his sandwiches, the left over mac n' cheese at the bottom of the bowl, a few pieces of diced chicken or cheese here and there? I do. And there in lies my theory on the fourth meal -- a meal that is not meant to be had, but is by millions of mothers across this great nation.

Christina Montoya Fiedler: Yes, these are the small bites of uneaten food from your child's plate, but together they add up to a caloric total that could be called a full meal.

I came to this conclusion as I zipped up my jeans. How could they still be snug if I was dieting and exercising?? I wasn't even aware I was eating extra food. I was too consumed with the cuteness of my messy-faced munchkin during feeding time to realize what I was putting in my mouth.

It's not that I don't have will power. I do. It's more that I am mindlessly eating. We all do it. Guaranteed someone's reading this right now, and putting that chip back into the bag. And if you're not a stay at home mom, most likely you do it at work. A few cookies from that 2 PM meeting, a handful of jellybeans from a co-workers desk. Hey, it happens.

But, here's what I did about it. I started keeping a food journal. Every bite of food I ate, I wrote down. On the first day, I wrote down everything I would typically eat in a day, to see the real damage. As suspected, whatever my kid ate, I ate -- a fourth meal. As the days went on, I still kept the list, but watched as it got smaller and smaller.

Things are better now, I'm back to my three meals a day. How about you? Are you a victim of the dreaded fourth meal?

Christina Montoya Fiedler resides in Los Angeles, CA, with husband Andy and her son Joseph. She juggles baby and work from home as a freelance publicist and attributes her strong love for life and sense of humor to her loving familia.