Early on in our counseling sessions with clients, we encourage them to complete a mindfulness journal which includes a food diary. I know! It's sounds like torture right? But there's research that demonstrates two important theories. One: Most of us have no idea how many calories we consume in a day's time. Two: Mindless eating accounts for most of the damage we do in our efforts to manage our weight.

See for yourself. It's a good —although frightening — idea to keep a food record.  About a week is a fair length of time to get a good idea of your eating patterns.  Write everything down.  Every single morsel. Then review it closely. After you pick yourself up off of the floor, it's time to take action.  Many people are truly surprised how much they have actually eaten. It can easily total more than 1,000 extra calories every day.

Here's how you can reign it in. Eat mindfully.

When you eat mindfully, you become more aware of the fullness of the eating experience from shopping to chopping to washing the dishes afterward.  Mindful eating will help you become more in tune with the gorgeous colors, flavors and textures of your food.  The only downside to the experience of mindful eating is you may never be satisfied with rushing through meals again.

The science behind mindful eating is that our body releases hormones that signal the brain when we're full and satisfied. It takes approximately 20 minutes for the brain to receive the "I'm full" message from the stomach. When we rush through our meals, we take in considerably more calories than our bodies actually need to be satisfied. The fix is easy. Slow down and savor every meal. Yep! This means no more meals standing in front of the fridge eating cold food directly from cartons.

The change is mostly mental (so is good health by the way!). Start with a change in vocabulary. Don't eat. Dine! Consider every dining occasion an opportunity to nourish your fabulous body. That's dining fabulously! It'll serve you well on your path to healthy aging.