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Stephanie Beatriz's super-relatable essay about 'disordered eating' is a must-read.

The 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' star's essay about her eating disorder hits home.

Just weeks away from taking a new round of publicity photos, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" actress Stephanie Beatriz shared her pre-shoot routine — and why she won't be following it this year.

[rebelmouse-image 19530671 dam="1" original_size="750x512" caption="Beatriz appears on a "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" panel during the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour. Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images." expand=1]Beatriz appears on a "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" panel during the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour. Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images.

"I’d stress. I’d look in the mirror and pick apart my body, my face. I’d zoom in on areas I hated, like my ass or my stomach. And then I’d start the obsessive food restriction and compulsive workouts," she wrote at InStyle, sharing her experience as a self-described "disordered eater."


She lays herself bare in the powerfully emotional piece, opening up about something so personal. For those who know her from TV, the story is perhaps not quite what you'd expect from the actress who plays Rosa Diaz, a tough-talking, no-nonsense detective. That's part of what makes her public vulnerability so powerful.

While the essay itself is extremely personal, Beatriz's experience with disordered eating is, unfortunately, not that unusual.

According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, at least 30 million people in the U.S. have an eating disorder. That's nearly 1 in 10 people in the country.

"Food was both the remedy and the punishment," Beatriz wrote, describing a fairly common aspect of some eating disorders. "I thought by controlling what I ate I was controlling my fate, when it was ultimately controlling me," she wrote, later adding that she also used food as a form of "self-medication."

Beatriz attends the 2015 Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles. Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.

Beatriz is working hard to learn to love her body and build a healthier relationship with food.

In the essay, she talked about how hard she's worked to change her own outlook on life, and how important it was to make sure she's "seeing other women not as sizes in relation to [her own], but as beautiful, complex beings" and being more open about what she's going through with others in her life.

"Most importantly, I’m telling myself that I am perfect and lovely just the way I am, even if I start crying as I say it," she shared near the end of the essay. "I’m going to keep moving in the direction of my most authentic self by reminding myself every day that I’m worthy."

It's easy to look at celebrities as the embodiment of perfection, but they're real people with real challenges, too.

Body image expert and managing editor of Everyday Feminism, Melissa A. Fabello, says there are two reasons it's important for public figures to speak out about their body image issues, including their experience with eating disorders.

First, "because it helps to normalize the problem, rather than relegating it to secrecy," Fabello explains in a Twitter DM. Second, "because it puts into perspective how the people we're comparing ourselves to, like celebrities, don't look like that naturally either."

Case in point, here's how one fan reacted to Beatriz's story:

(See? How cool is that?)

Read Beatriz's story over at InStyle. For more information about eating disorders (including information on how to get help for you or a loved one), visit the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders website. We've reached out to Beatriz for comment and will update if we hear back.

Pop Culture

Here’s a paycheck for a McDonald’s worker. And here's my jaw dropping to the floor.

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I've written tons of things about minimum wage, backed up by fact-checkers and economists and scholarly studies. All of them point to raising the minimum wage as a solution to lifting people out of poverty and getting folks off of public assistance. It's slowly happening, and there's much more to be done.

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Cameron House's Woolly Wellness retreat includes tea in the garden with adorably rude guests.

Cameron House/Naughty Sheep

Cameron House's Woolly Wellness retreat includes a unique sheep encounter.

Remember when "goat yoga" was all the rage? And then "cow cuddling" and "turkey cuddling" made everyone's bucket lists?

Now we can add "nuzzling with naughty sheep" to the mix, but with a fancy Scottish twist.

Less than an hour from Glasgow, Scotland, the Cameron House resort sits on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, looking as if it were plucked straight out of a fairy tale. Sprawling green grounds, gorgeous lake views and a four-story castled mansion greet guests as their "home away from home" (only better), and a perusal of the reviews show guests raving about the 5-star resort's elegance, beauty and exceptional service.

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drone view of cameron house grounds and lakeCameron House sit on Lake Lochmond in Scotland.Cameron House


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But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

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A wild Eurasian crow befriended a toddler and won't leave his side

Crows are so much smarter than we think.

A Eurasian crow.

A family from Denmark has created a touching video montage documenting their unique friendship with a wild Eurasian crow. This crow, affectionately named Russell, has become an honorary member of their household, forming special bonds with each family member, including the pets.

However, the crow's relationship with their son, 2-year-old Otto, is truly extraordinary. “They could spend hours just playing,” Otto’s mother, Laerke Luna, says in a video shared by The Dodo. "When Otto is outside, he will never leave Otto’s side.”

Russell, the free-spirited crow, ventures away from the family's home from time to time, but never for too long. He always comes back and announces his return by tapping on the door, swooping in to lounge on the sofa, or awaiting Otto's return from school atop their roof.

“When we are inside, he will sit inside the window because he wants Otto to go outside with him,” Laerke said.

The family’s relationship with Russell didn’t come out of nowhere. When Russell was a young bird, he had health problems so the family took him and nursed the bird back to health. Eventually, they witnessed his first attempts to fly.

Recently, Russell became friends with another family member, their second child, Hedwig. Although he does get a little annoyed with the bird’s frequent attempts to nab his pacifier.

Even though it’s rare for humans to strike up such a close bond with a crow, according to research, it’s not that surprising. Audubon says that crows are “some of the smartest animals in the world” with an intelligence “on par with chimpanzees.” They are also very social and family-oriented, so no wonder Russell loves Otto and his family.

Crow Named Russell Waits For His Favorite Kid To Get Home From School | The Dodo


Learning

Why you shouldn't throw your dishwasher pod into the bottom of your dishwasher

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Photos by cottonbro studio and PhotoMIX Ltd. via Canva

Why your detergent shouldn't go in the bottom of the dishwasher

There always seem to be something going on with the pods and powders you're supposed to use in the dishwasher to clean your dishes. Either the pods don't dissolve completely or the powder gets all goopy and hard, never really fully dispensing into the dishwasher.

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