An Incredible Story, August 30, 2002
 

As a full time working mom and mother of 2 young children, it is rare that I have any time to enjoy reading a book. And if I do finally have time. . . it better be good!

The Christmas House is a wonderful book! I had not heard much about it, but once I was into the book, I couldn't put it down. It has unexpected turns and twists and a story line that was so well written. Finally a book that my whole family can read!
Thank you for adding such a classic to our library.
The Stutts Family      

The Christmas House-

I wrote this novel in 1999 and it was published in 2002. It is still available at bookstores and from Amazon.com as well as other internet resellers.

Publishers press release:

Below are reviews from readers as posted on Amazon.com. (search "Kukes" in Amazon.com to see live page.)

Happenings Magazine
12 Part Diet Series
Oct 2003-Sept 2004

Step 5- Weight Loss Series
To Atkins or not to Atkins? This is the question.
By: Barry KuKes

Step 5 was scheduled to be about how the people we associate with effect our weight loss progress and eating habits. This subject does not justify an entire step, so I’ll cut to the chase. If you are on this diet or any diet and the people you are surrounded by do not support your efforts, eat foods you can’t eat in front of you, tell you that you are wasting your time, etc., then avoid them as much as possible. I’m not saying to drop your friends and alienate your family, but you have to let them know that you are serious about losing weight and avoid their company at eating times. It is not easy to eat properly when your brother is downing his second hot fudge sundae right in front of you.

Having a buddy that is also on a diet is a great help. Having your spouse join your diet and your exercise routines is a major plus to attaining success. Enough said on this subject.

Now, as with many diet programs, we have taken several volunteers and put them on different diet regiments and have gauged their results and progress. We report to you, our reader, as to which of these regiments have produced the best results. This is month number 5 and here are some of the results.

Without a doubt, the person on the Atkins diet has lost the most weight within the shortest period of time. The person on our recommended portion control and exercise method is a close second. The third person who has applied the portion control concept but has not exercised is far behind, but has lost weight as well.

If you want to lose weight without altering your diet and without exercising, then the portion control concept will work for you but realize your weight loss will be slow and very long term. You can probably lose 20 pounds over a 12-month period but that’s less than 2 pounds a month.

If you add in exercise to the portion control diet, you can accelerate this time frame by 50% and lose the 20 pounds in about 6-months. If you apply the portion control guidelines, cut out certain foods from your diet and exercise regularly, you will see rapid weight loss and more of it.

The Atkins diet is extremely popular for one reason. It works. It’s no picnic to be on, but it does work. The downside of this diet is the effects it may have on your health. The medical community is concerned about high levels of fat and cholesterol that the Atkins diet allows into the body. If you are unfamiliar with the Atkins diet, the basic concept is that you eliminate and/or greatly reduce your carbohydrate intake, meaning you eliminate foods like breads, donuts, fruits, etc. The Atkins diet is a high protein diet and thus you eat nothing but protein and fatty foods. The theory (and it has proven to be true) is that your body, that was use to burning sugars from the carbs you consumed, will now start to burn the fat instead. Naturally, you still limit the amount of food you consume, so even the Atkins diet stresses a portion control guideline as well as an exercise routine, but the added boost of eliminating carbs is what really take the weight off and very quickly.

Some people on the Atkins diet have lost 12-20 pounds in 3-4 weeks, not 10-12 months. Some people will lose 5 pounds a week if they exercise 3-5 hours a weeks, follow the program to the letter and oh yes, drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.

Now, I have never been a great fan of drinking large amounts of water, but I realize the benefits of doing so and thus I have begun drinking 8-glasses a day. My conclusion as to why you lose weight when drinking so much water is because you are constantly running to the bathroom. I haven’t had a full nights sleep in over a week. All kidding aside, water will fill you up so you are not hungry, it is great for your skin and it helps remove impurities from your body including fat.

There are several problems I see with being on the Atkins diet, even though it is a very successful method of weight loss. One- I can’t imagine someone being on this diet for the rest of their lives. Eating bacon and eggs every morning for breakfast has got to start building up fat in your arteries sooner or later and I don’t care how much water you drink, that just can’t be good for you. Two- Eating the same type of food for 6-months is one thing, but eating these foods and only these foods for the rest of your life is another. Can you imagine never eating another piece of fruit or never having another piece of bread for as long as you live? Now granted, the Atkins diet suggests adding carbs back into your diet over a period of time, but after talking with several people who were successful following this diet, they admit that if they add carbs back into their diet they gain weight faster than they lost it in the first place. To control their weight they have to exercise regularly and cut out all carbs for a week to get back on track.

The key to every diet is portion control and exercise. There is not a diet on this earth that works without exercise being part of the program, accept for starvation. I use to be one of those people who could eat whatever I wanted to eat as long as I exercised every other day to burn off the calories. As I age, I need to watch “what” I eat as well and then I can lose and maintain my weight.

Monthly tips-

Watch your portions!- I can’t stress this enough. Even on the Atkins diet, if you eat 4 large steaks, and thus very little carbs, you will still gain weight. Eat one steak or a half of one steak. To limit your portions, take a napkin and cover half of your plate of food. Only eat the portion you can see.

Drink lots of water- Drink more in the morning hours than at night or else you’ll be up all night visiting the bathroom. 8-glasses minimum. If you exercise, you will drink more water automatically.

Limit the type of foods you eat- I am not totally on board with the Atkins approach, but I do agree to cutting back on your carb intake. If you have to have a sandwich with bread, then skip the donut, bagel, toast or muffin in the morning. As well, sweets are carbs too. Chocolate is not a good source of anything but carbs, so avoid it.

You have many choices when it comes to dieting and exercise. Diets range from portion control, high protein, high fat, low calorie, low fat, soup only, diet foods, etc. We obviously feel portion control and exercise is your best choice for long term success, but whatever works for you is what is important.

Exercise is key and I realize this is a dirty word for some, but as mentioned in previous steps, exercise comes in many forms, not just running on a tread mill. Dancing, walking, playing a sport, swimming, jumping rope, Pilaties, floor exercises, etc. There is some type of exercise program that everyone can do. Find the one best for you and do it. Consistency and commitment are the keys to successful results from exercise. If you can’t do your usual 30-minute routine because you are just too tired, then only do a 15-minute routine. Something is better than nothing.

Lastly, have you ever seen someone with a really great looking body and wonder how they got that way? Naturally, exercise and eating right are the answers, but what exercises are they doing and what are they eating? If there is room available in this issue, I will include an exercise routine you can follow to lose weight and tone your body. If you perform the exercises as recommended you will lose weight and tone up but you have establish a pattern for exercising. Every other day, or 4 days a week, or 30-minutes in the morning on 2 days and 40 minutes at night on 2 days, etc. Whatever it is, you have to stick to it. Commitment and consistency are required.

Recently Good Housekeeping Magazine noted that a 10,000 step walk is equal to 70-minutes of intense exercise or swimming. 10,000 steps is broken down as follows- 1000 steps can be attained in 15 minutes, thus to achieve 10,000 steps you need to walk for 2 ½ hours. But, you don’t have to walk the entire 10,000 steps at once. They suggest that you go to the mall and walk for 30-minutes while window shopping, then call your mom or a friend and pace for 15 minutes. Then walk to lunch instead of driving. Then walk at night, etc. By the end of the day you would have walked at least 10,000 steps.

Keep up the good work. Stay away from negative non-supportive people, limit your portions, exercise, watch your carb and sweet intake, drink water and lastly, make a commitment. Without the commitment, the rest of the guidelines are useless.