Maximum Willpower: How to Master the New Science of Self-Control

by Kelly McGonigal

What’s going on in the brain and body now? A few things. First, your brain is temporarily taken over by the promise of reward. At the sight of that strawberry tart, your brain launches a neurotransmitter called dopamine from the middle of your brain into areas of the brain that control your attention, motivation and action. Those little dopamine messengers tell your brain, “Must get tart NOW, or suffer a fate worse than death.” This might explain the near-automatic movement of your feet and hands into the bakery. (Whose hand is that? Is that my hand on the door? Yes, it is. Now, how much is that tart?) While all this is happening, your blood sugar drops. As soon as your brain anticipates your mouth’s first tasty bite, it releases a neurochemical that tells the body to take up whatever energy is circulating in the bloodstream. The body’s logic is this: a strawberry tart, high in sugar and fat, is going to produce a major spike in blood sugar.