Emma and Carla Papas have given away the strict paleo lifestyle on which they built their brand, admitting they became “way too obsessed” with it.
The self-titled “health and happiness advocates” from Canberra, who run their own healthy lifestyle brand ‘The Merrymaker Sisters’, are household names within the paleo community.
Their blog gets more than 150,000 visits each months. They have sold 10,000 healthy recipe books. They sell subscriptions to their four-week challenge. They have around 90,000 followers on social media. And it’s all off the back of their commitment to a strict paleo lifestyle – the no dairy, no grains, no processed food, no sugar kind, championed by wellness advocates, like Pete Evans.
themerrymakersistersBut it turns out even the most committed of paleo people need a break from the gruelling regime.
In a post titled ‘Why We Are Giving Up Paleo’, the sisters say they are expanding their eating beyond paleo’s restrictive boundaries.
“We found when we were strict paleo we got way too obsessed and although we were ‘eating right’ it kind of took us a couple steps backwards,” they wrote.
“We were like ‘OH MY GOSH… I CAN’T EAT THAT SALAD! It has one chickpea in it!’
“Now that we’re more chilled about things like corn chips, a few cheeky drinks here and there (because fun), sushi, chick peas in our salad etc. we are in a way better head space.
“The strict paleo has been part of our journey. But now we are moving forward.”
The sisters say they are still advocates of the paleo diet because it changed their lives, prompting them to change their entire attitudes towards health (and quit their jobs to follow their passion).
“But we want to make sure y’all know we’re not ‘just paleo’. In fact we’re probably (definitely) way more passionate about people doing stuff they love and getting happy in their heads.”
The sisters say they are sick of the flak associated with the paleo diet and want a more relaxed way of eating, so will be focusing on “good” and “real” food.
“It’s about less stress around the food choices we make,” they wrote.
“It’s about filling our whole lives with more joy. Surrounding ourselves with people we love. Doing more stuff we love.”
Amen, sisters.
Top Comments
Even the early humans who ate paleo, would've eaten souvlaki if they had the option. Variety is good.
Plus the paleo diet isn't really that much like an actual paleolithic diet. All the starchy staples in the native diets here like the grass seeds of the arid regions, the wattle seeds, the rhizomes of the bullrushes and the murnong tubers wouldn't be acceptable by paleo doctrine.
Yeah that's true isn't it!
I'm not sure it's beneficial to be applying fashions and fads to something as basic as food. In fact it seems silly even having a concept of "trendy diet", now that I think about it. Because fashions and fads are thing people follow, determine by others, with their own research and own individual requirements less considered.
Sounds like a sensible decision. Still eating healthy, but not beating themselves up about it.