MESSED up on Bank Holiday Monday. Arrived at Greens for a late-night workout just as it was shutting early because it was Bank Holiday Monday. What a plank. Completely forgot about it being BHM cos on annual leave that week. Bad start but managed to turn it around by squeezing in a couple of short, sharp back-to-back sessions in the middle part of the week. Family/work schedule a little erratic lately (half-term/me and work-mates on hols etc) so struggling to get into a good training routine. Also last night I was ‘taxi’ man and tonight’s looking similar. New plan of action for second half of year: After trying to fit visits to Greens in around hectic evening/weekend schedule have decided best thing to do is go there before going into work. The beauty of Greens and I suspect a lot of other gyms (I know when I was with 5 Star Fitness they’d do very early turns to accommodate their clients) is that they’re open early enough (for me at least) to get a good hour in before work. Had a trial run and think it’ll work out (please pardon the pun; it wasn’t intentional) but will keep you updated.

FOOD is fuel for the body. And in the early, early days of my switch to a healthier lifestyle it was made very clear that food - and water - is a key element in any health/fitness regime.

Immediately I was told when to eat and how much water to drink. It’s sounds straight-forward enough - you eat when you’re hungry and drink when you’re thirsty. Wrong.

When you eat has a marked impact on your body, or more importantly what your body does with the fuel - store it, or burn it. And the only time you’re not drinking is when you’re sleeping!

If you’ve been following my blog SportsEd-aches on the wakefieldexpress.co.uk website then you’ll have a good idea of my eating habits - and drinking habits.

If you’ve been keeping tabs on my progress you’ll be aware there’s been another twist in the food consumption tale recently.

I've switched from 5 Star Fitness personal training to going it alone at Greens Health and Fitness and it's been enough to keep the tum in trim and the heart pumping.

The one important element I’ve continued to work hard at is my diet - big on fruit, vegetables, protein, very low on carbs and fat.

Happy in the knowledge that my diet’s been tip-top for several months, I felt really comfortable about undergoing a food intolerance test at Greens.

The science behind it all is very persuasive though far too technical to go into here. The claims were also supported by my fitness instructor who has an intolerance to salmon.

The fish specifically came up on his graph, as did egg white which he’d been plying himself with in the run-up to his test in a bid to boost his protein intake (more on this later).

Armed with this information I was prepared for the odd intolerance spike on my graph.

So, imagine my surprise when a heck of a lot of what I consider is ‘good for me’ spiked into the red dangerzone. Lager and red wine (which I don’t consider good for me but which I enjoy drinking) also landed in the ‘avoid at all costs’ zone.

Oranges, garlic and onions were also among the ‘dodgy’ foodstuffs while lettuce - of all things - barely registered on the graph it’s so tolerable.

As a comparison, I roped in my wife to be tested as well. Not one foodstuff tested spiked higher than low amber - the orange zone being food/drink not to be over-indulged in, but neither need it be avoided.

Perturbed - and if you read my previous blog you’ll see ‘perturbed’ is an understatement - I checked out the info’ Greens supplied me with on how the system works.

Not too far into the blurb I came across a definition that I should have picked up on when talking to the egg white man from earlier.

Well, what I learned was that the system tests for ‘sensitivity’ and ‘genuine intolerance’. The latter means it doesn’t matter how much or little you eat of that substance, you’ll still be intolerant to it.

The former means that a reaction is recorded dependent upon the amount of foodstuff eaten by the individual, hence the instructor’s ‘intolerance’ to egg white. If you overload your system it’ll show up.

As I’ve already said, I watch what I eat - but I do eat very high concentrations of fruit and vegetables which could indicate a ‘sensitivity’ rather than an ‘intolerance’. This theory is further backed up by a higher-than-usual intake of red wine and lager in the run-up to the test owing to visiting relatives from overseas!

The test I undertook, while not conclusive, is interesting and relevant to my continued health, fitness and overall well-being.

The upshot is that I’m enough in tune with my system not to be worried too much by my food ‘intolerances’. For others, however, it might be just the thing they need to pin-point just why they come out in a rash every time they eat fish and chips! Is it the fish, is the chips, is it the mushy peas?

One thing I would say though is that it’s not a medical test in the traditional sense (it’s completely non-invasive and based on something called bioelectromagnetism - you just put your fingers on a computer mouse-like electrode).

But it could help persuade your GP to give you a more comprehensive medical test when you go armed with your intolerance graph to back up your own health concerns.

Now, I’m going home to sample a glass or two of Australian Shiraz - the gym can wait until the end of the week.