It's easy to get off track with your diet.
To give a "completely random" example, one day you decide to eat a KitKat and - before you know it - you're caught in a two-week sugar binge like a swarm of bees devouring a pot of sweet honey. Hang on, did we say two weeks. Maybe it's three now.
You may have heard corporations aim to create the perfect mix of sugar, salt and fat to get us hooked on their products. It's called the bliss point. Well, Nestle has done quite a job of that with the KitKat.
We should have had a banana.
Anyhow, the point is, sometimes we all need some nutrition knowhow to pull us out of the food abyss that is modern life.
That's when you know it's time to turn to University of Newcastle nutrition experts.
Chief among them is Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics Clare Collins, known for her stint on ABC's Catalyst.
Not to mention her articles on The Conversation, with cracking titles like: "Does TikTok's chia-lemon 'internal shower' really beat constipation? Here's what science says".
Anyhow, Clare asked Topics to spread the word about a free course, which the university and HMRI created, called The Science of Weight Loss: Dispelling Diet Myths.
The six-week online course starts on Wednesday. Clare said the purpose of the course is to "build the nutrition knowledge and skills of adults who are interested in weight management".
"This may be for themselves, a family member or to assist others in achieving healthy eating and weight-loss goals.
"This course will improve understanding of how to approach weight management from a scientific-based point of view."
Dr Erin Clarke said the course is a great evidence-based tool to "empower individuals with the knowledge and tools to help them understand the science of weight loss and how to apply that to themselves".
Dr Clarke, a dietitian with the University of Newcastle, believes the course is better than following a diet.
"It is a great course which educates participants on the evidence for weight loss, understanding the composition of foods and diets and importantly teaches you how to spot a fad diet," she said.
"This would be useful to anyone thinking of following a certain diet for weight loss."
She said the biggest diet myth was that "you have to cut out entire foods and food groups, such as carbohydrates, to be able to lose weight".
"That is not true."
The course starts on October 19. Sign up at edx.org/course/the-science-of-weight-loss-dispelling-diet-myths.
Questions about the course can be emailed to erin.clarke@newcastle.edu.au.
Coronation Street
Newcastle's Libby Maskey tells Topics that her mum attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953.
Libby still has the ticket.
"We've always been in awe of it," she said.
It was announced this week that the coronation of King Charles will be held on May 6. The event will be called "Coronation Street" because the royals are just like a soap opera [we made up that last part].
Libby's mum, Fay Langwill, told the Herald in 2013 that she sat for hours in the rain, waiting for a glimpse of the "beautiful young queen", then 27, on her coronation day.
Fay, who passed away two years ago at age 91, was 23 at the time and working as a nurse in London with a group of fellow Aussies.
When we told Libby that she might have longevity genes, given her mum's long life, she said her dad's aunty, of Mayfield, lived until the age of 112.
Topics: "What age are you aiming for?"
Libby: "I don't know, next week!"
Nani and Poppa
Ross Greig, of New Lambton, had to laugh at the name of A-League club Melbourne Victory's new star Nani, given the club's coach is Tony Popovic, nicknamed "Poppa".
Quite amazing for a team to have a "Nani and Poppa", Ross quipped.
Ross made it down to Gosford for the Jets' A-League opener against the Mariners last Saturday, only to be disappointed when the game was postponed due to the pitch becoming a bit like the nearby Brisbane Water.
He was also left disappointed that the buffet at the nearby Central Coast Leagues Club was still not operating, apparently due to COVID.
Topics wonders whether other restaurant buffets are still hanging onto old COVID restrictions.
COVID, as we now know, is not a foodborne disease.
Mind you, petri-dish kids running around a buffet is never the most pleasant sight.
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