"Hi my name is Alice and I'm a Flexitarian"

There used to be only of two types of people when it came to nutritional grouping. Vegetarians and Non-Vegetarians. Didn't life use to be so simple then? Easy for the restaurants, easy for the party planners, easy for the wedding caterers. Nowadays you will find so many different terminologies and exclusions that society has imposed on their eating preferences, which can be somewhat confusing to the non food-snob.

Vegetarian

Vegetarians are people who do not eat any form of animal product. However, depending on which variance you belong to, there are those who refrain from vegetable roots, mushrooms, milk, cheese or eggs. However, the only thing that bothers me up till today is the introduction of mock meat within the realm of vegetarian food. Why bother calling yourself a Vegetarian if you still find delight in fantasizing that the morsel of tofu you had just put into your mouth was a succulent piece of chicken?

Vegan

Vegans are people who do not eat any form of animal product including diary products an eggs. Being a vegan in Malaysia can be quite a challenge as there aren't many restaurants that are vegan friendly. Happy Cow is one of the most comprehensive guides to eating out for the compassionate soul.

Flexitarian

Flexitarians are semi-vegetarians. Their diet consists of mainly vegetables with the occasional slab of meat. Driven mainly by health and environmental reasons, this group of people identify themselves as Vegetarians but are highly criticized by the true Vegetarians who resent the fact that the pureness of the term 'Vegetarian' has been compromised.

Pescetarian

As the names suggests, fish is the only form of meat that a Pescetarian eats. For some, it may also include other forms of seafood such as shellfish and crustaceans. I first decided to become a Pescatarian based on compassionate reasons. But through my experience, I noticed subtle but delightful changes within myself. Goodbye to sluggishness and lethargy!

Polpescetarian

A mouthful to pronounce and merely a fancy name for those who abstain from consuming red meat.

Fruitarian

Frutarians are those who only consume raw fruits and seeds. Years ago, intrigued by the word, I did a search on the internet and came across this story behind the fruitarian cause. Fruitarians believe that like animals, vegetables are living organisms with a consciousness and in the light of non-violence, are not meant for consumption. Plants serve a specific purpose on our planet, which is to convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. Fruit, on the other hand is the gift of God and plays an important role in the process of germination. Their vibrant colours and fragrant scents exist not out of sheer coincidence, but in fact serve to entice birds, insects and other animals as seed dispersal agents. Frutarians would cringe reading 'The Sound Machine' by Roald Dahl that tells the tale of an eccentric man who invented a machine that could pick up sounds out of the human ear's range. He brought the machine out for a trial run in his garden and picked up little screams as his neighbour sets about pruning her rose bush.

There are different schools of thought, each with an entire list of benefits and why one is better than the other. Experiment with the various diets to find out which is suitable and keeps you in tune with your body and consciousness. There is no harm in biting into that juicy piece of steak if your body tells you it needs a protein fix. But chances are, if you wake up the next day regretting the Big Mac you had for dinner, then it probably was a weak moment in the evil face of craving.