So, the quick answer is that you do not need any refined sugar. That is your body does not need any sugars that are manmade and that are not naturally found in unprocessed foods. So here is a quick test for you as you eat and drink:

If you are like me, you come from a broken home. About 50% of marriages in America end in divorce. Recent surveys show that 1 in 4 children today live in a home without a father. In homes that do have a father - biological, stepfather, foster care and adoptive - they are all humans that are not perfect and are flawed in some way. As children, we all look to our fathers to learn about life and how we are to behave, good or bad, based on their decisions.

You have probably heard the saying, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'. That is, we all make decisions on what is beautiful based on our own perspective. Our own determination of what is desirable and good. We naturally place our value and label of desirable and undesirable on all that we see.

Proverbs 16:9 says, 'In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.' If you are like me, you have and are living a life that you can frustratingly agree with this proverb. How many times have we decided to do something and then found that the results were outside of our control? How many times have we taken credit for the success and failures of our plans?

As part of your initial instructions for your TRIP we instructed you to only weigh in once every 40 days. This amount of time may seem to be a long time in between weigh-ins. You may have previously weighed in daily or weekly while trying to lose weight based on your efforts before starting your TRIP.

As I get older and can reflect back, it is amazing to remember all the times that I and my loved ones either said or acted out the words, "ARE WE THERE YET?!" We do this out of frustration because we want to do something or be somewhere or be someone that has not happened. It is a desire to experience what we think is better than our current state.

At the beginning of your TRIP, we sent you your Weight Loss Plan based on restricting the calories you consume in order to lose weight. On your chart you have Calories to Maintain Weight, your BMR calories and Calories to Lose Weight. Based on your gender, age and current weight your daily calories have been calculated. In order to lose up to 12 pounds during a TRIP cycle, you must restrict 1,000 calories per day than required to maintain your current weight.

What tempts you? What defines a temptation? How do you know if it is just a natural desire for the needs of your body? Can something that is good be bad? Are temptations the same as sin?

Feeling hungry? Drink some water! Okay ... still hungry and need just a little something to knock out that craving until your last meal of the day? Here is a list of low calorie foods to help you stay on plan:

One of the greatest speeches recorded in the Bible is in Joshua 24:1-28. Joshua was chosen by God to lead His chosen people into the promised land. Now, Joshua was giving his final instructions to them before dying to this world.

Do you like math? I do, however I know that there are many of you that do not like to get into the numbers. No matter your feelings about math, it is all about the facts. Math gives us specific and consistent information so that we can make educated decisions and to explain our results. With weight loss, we have some simple math to do to help us make a simple, but not easy, decision.

"POWER!!!" (woo-ha-ha-ha) This single desire is the root of all kinds of evil. Think about the villains you have seen in movies, books, history and your life and the common denominator for all is that someone (including ourselves) wants more power for themselves to do what they want and to be who they want to be.

Protein is an essential nutrient made up of little building blocks called amino acids. They make protein vital to building and repairing muscle, bone, hair, and nails. But that is not all.

I enjoy learning new things that I'm interested in and I do not like discovering that I was wrong on what I thought I knew. As I have studied the Bible over the past several years, I have learned so many things about God, the people, and events He has recorded in His Word and about myself. The personal response I have had in these learnings has exposed my heart and my will to trust in God, the world or myself.

In the 1960s, experts started advising people to eat less fat based on the belief that a high fat diet led to a high fat body. Since then, obesity has exploded. Recent evidence suggests that all those years of focusing on ways to get fat out of foods has actually contributed to the obesity epidemic. “Despite eating less fat, we are fatter than ever before,” said David Ludwig, professor of nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

As I have studied the Bible over the years I have learned so many great truths of life. God created all people in His image and has placed His moral standards in us. God loves us and desires to have a good relationship with us. God gives us free will so that we may choose to love Him back in return. God is the Provider of all that that we need.

Adding more green vegetables to your meals will enable you to eat more and lose weight. Green vegetables are low in calories allowing you to eat more of them and are high in fiber that keeps your body feeling full for longer periods of time

Have you ever been given a gift that you did not want? I have! I will not go into all the details of these misguided items that had very little thought of me or use to me. In those items, I was aware of them but I did not value them or use them as the item was purposed.

Your body needs good sleep in order to function properly. Lack of sleep is a major factor in your body desiring foods and drinks to stimulate alertness and energy to work throughout the day.

Good is a value of moral excellence or desired quality assigned to something or someone based on a judgment. Whose judgment? Who is to say what is good?