5 Amazing Things Your Brain Does While You Sleep

We spend a third of our lives sleeping, an activity as crucial to our health and well-being as eating. But exactly why we need sleep hasn't always been clear. We know that sleep makes us feel more energized and improves our mood, but what's really happening in the brain and body when we're at rest?

Research has identified a number of reasons that sleep is critical to our health. When we're sleeping, the brain is anything but inactive. In fact, during sleep, neurons in the brain fire nearly as much as they do during waking hours -- so it should come as no surprise that what happens during our resting hours is extremely important to a number brain and cognitive functions.

Here are five incredible things your brain does while you're asleep -- and good reason to get some shuteye tonight:

How to go vegan

Take it slow

Keep your end goal in mind, but go at your own pace. Some people manage to go vegan overnight and if that's the right approach for you, fantastic. But don't be concerned if you feel you need more time. Like any other lifestyle change, going vegan not only takes getting used to, but it takes time to determine what will work best for you. It's not a one size fits all experience and there are numerous approaches you can take.

Making small changes to your everyday meals is one of the easiest ways to increase the amount of plant-based foods in your diet. You could start by removing meat or dairy one day a week and go from there. Or you could try changing one meal at a time, having vegan breakfasts during your first week, adding a vegan lunch during week two and so on. You could even try changing one product at a time by swapping cow's milk for almond or soya milk or butter for coconut oil or margarine. There's a plant-based alternative for almost every type of food you can think of, so you don't have to miss out on any of your favorite foods.

This Is THE Equipment-Free Move Trainers Swear by for Sexy Arms and Shoulder

When we surveyed some of our go-to trainers for their favorite move to sculpt arms and shoulders (no equipment necessary), half of them recommended the same exact move—and it's one you're probably pretty familiar with: pushups.

Okay, so maybe we didn't just blow your mind with this exercise you learned in P.E. But hear us out: If professional muscle makers are recommending this move for a toned upper body, why waste your time doing anything else?

The main superpower of the pushup is its effectiveness at targeting your triceps and deltoids, says strength and conditioning coach Mike Boyle, owner of Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning in Woburn, Massachusetts. And bonus: This exercise also engages your core and your chest, says Boyle. Yay for multitasking moves!

4 Ways to Burn More Fat

Strength training is the gift that keeps giving. You burn calories during your workout. You also burn them for hours afterwards. The harder you work, all else being equal, the more you should burn both during and after.

But there’s a catch: The most advanced lifters don’t get much of a post-workout metabolic boost, which scientists call EPOC, short for excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. A recent study at Florida State University recruited a group of experienced lifters and had them do two different workouts. (All the lifters did both workouts, with at least one week in between.) Both workouts included the same four exercises using fairly heavy weights—85 percent of their one-rep max. But one workout included twice as many sets as the other.

4 Ways to See Your Doctor Faster

When a mystery ailment pops up but it isn’t serious enough to warrant a trip to the urgent-care clinic or ER, you’d still like to get it checked out soon. The only problem: Your doctor’s a busy guy.

On average, you’ll need to wait 19.5 days to see a family doctor, says a recent survey by healthcare company Merritt Hawkins.

Special appointments are even worse. The delay for dermatology, for example, is 28.8 days.

There’s no magic word that will make other patients’ appointments vanish off the calendar, but you have more scheduling power than you think. Use these tactics to make sure you get seen as soon as possible.

The Science behind Why You’re a Picky Eater

You call your palate “selective.” Your friends call you a picky eater. But researchers have discovered that there are actual scientific reasons that may explain why the short list of foods you eat mostly comprises of chicken fingers, buttered noodles, grilled cheese, and pizzas.

“Like many behaviors, it appears to be the result of a complex interaction between your genes and the environment,” says Marcia Pelchat, Ph.D., a researcher at Monell Chemical Sense Center in Philadelphia who focuses on food preferences.

Let’s start with genetics. Variants of a gene associated with taste, called TAS2R38, determine how strongly you taste bitter flavors, like coffee or kale, researchers say. And if you perceive that broccoli, for instance, as being unbelievably bitter, you may shun it.

When You Should Say No to Sex

Guys are expected to be horndogs, ready for sex at the drop of a bra. But that’s a lot of pressure, says Men's Health Sex Professor Debby Herbenick, Ph.D.

“Sometimes men end up accepting sex because their partner wants it, but they’re not that into it,” she says. “Then they have difficulty with erections, and it sets them up to feel like they have ED.”

Why Disobedient Kids Are More Likely to Become Millionaires

My 10-year-old daughter is a handful. Love her dearly, it goes without saying. Problem is, Taylor thinks she's in charge. Hardly a day goes by in which we're not arguing over: her attitude, her tone, her backtalk, the completely inappropriate thing she did in public, the fight she started with her older sister . . . The list goes on.

But I've also noticed two things about her:

1) She's incredibly competitive. Taylor isn’t the most athletic kid on her soccer team, but if she gets smoked a couple of times in a 1v1 drill, the claws come out. She won't get smoked again. Likewise, no matter the size or significance of the argument, she’s relentless. She won't back down. No threat eases the tension; no punishment (and we've tried them all) prevents it from happening again. She. Must. Win. Even if it leaves half the household in tears.