APART from the jelly, I really thought I had my vegetarian week crac-ked.

I hadn't had red meat or chicken withdrawal symptoms. And I had been careful, so careful, to check the source of everything I ate.

After the jelly faux pas, I had to be. I had been tucking into oranges and jelly, when Ruth, my sister-in-law, pointed to the bowl, unashamedly grinning. Jelly - gelatine, the very un-vegetarian setting agent...

So, not so clever. Still, by the time I was ticking off the list of veggie pitfalls from the Vegetarian Society, I was feeling quite proud of myself.

Just another day to go and I would be able tell Gazette readers that, providing you have the inclination and are prepared to cook from scratch, there is nothing boring or bland about going veggie. Avoiding veggie traps? Easy.

ADAPTED Then I spotted it. Capsules. Made from gelatine. And what did I have every morning before my cup of coffee? A cod liver oil and glucosomile capsule. I had already faced the cod liver oil quandary and decided my bones came first, but I was totally ignorant of the provenance of capsules. I had, once more, fallen into the gelatine quagmire.

But I really don't feel I should be held to account for the gelatine. More pertinent here is how well I adapted to a meatless diet. It really wasn't that difficult; the difficulties lay elsewhere.

As shown by the capsules incident, you must check and re-check food labels - beware ice cream - and watch out for some of those E numbers. E120, the red food colour more commonly known as cochineal, is made from crushed insects. Hardly vegetarian.

There are other difficulties, too. I had the luxury of avoiding one - keeping to a vegetarian diet when the rest of the family are very definitely into meat - but another could have proven problematic.

On the first day of my veggie week I was at my aforementioned sister-in-law's and had not told her of the new diet. The evening meal should have been her excellent chicken Thai green curry.

Ruth wasn't fazed and turned it into vegetable Thai green curry, including butter beans to give it a more solid texture. And, yes, it was delicious.

Rule number one for veggies when eating at a friend's? Make sure the cook knows at least a couple of days before what you can and can't eat.

So, what have I discovered? While spurning red meat hadn't been too much of a chore, fish was a different matter.

I eat a lot of fish - salmon risotto, baked smoked haddock, seafood pasta; you get the picture - and while going without for a week is OK, forever is just too long. "Forever" doesn't sit too well with bacon, either.

For me, food is physical, which is why my favourite dish will always contain meat or fish. My favourite chef? Haven't you guessed? Nigella Lawson.

For more information about the Vegetarian Society or for details of National Vegetarian Week events in north Essex, call 0161 925 2000 or go to vegsoc.org