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Chances are that at some point this week, you�ll get home from work, tired and hungry, and feel very, very tempted to flop down in front of the TV instead of putting on your gym clothes. At least I know that�s usually in the cards for me. And I now know what I�ll do when I�m in such a pickle: I�ll have a sweet snack. Recent research has found that in order to make any good decision at all�whether it�s about going to the gym, holding your tongue, or avoiding a shoe splurge�your brain literally requires energy, which it gets from glucose. �Self control is like a muscle,� says Roy F. Baumeister, PhD, professor of social psychology at Florida State University and co-author of the book Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. �After you do something�anything�that uses self-control, the muscle gets tired, and if a second task requiring self-control comes along, you�ll do worse on it. A dose of glucose seems to replenish people�s willpower.� After a day of diligence in the office, your brain might need a hit of sugar to make its next good decision. Alas, the optimal way to put this info to good use is not to eat a cupcake (which may give you a quick hit of mental strength�and then a crash from the sugar high), but rather to stick to more natural forms of sugar, like those found in fruit. �You want the kind of fuel that will burn over a longer period of time,� says Baumeister. �Protein combined with natural sugar is an excellent choice.� Try an apple with almond butter or yogurt and berries for optimal restraint.