Sizzle--give it time. Every month the cravings decrease, if you don't feed them.

Lisa, of course, anyone's mileage may vary.

But the nature of the addiction to sweets is not about insulin. From a physiological perspective, it's more about serotonin (and other brain chemicals)

Carbs--sugar especially--make us feel emotionally better because they manipulate our brain chemistry. They give a temporary burst of (among other substances) serotonin--a feel-good chemical. But then there's the crash...which drives the next craving. After a lifetime of sugar abuse, our brain chemistry is messed up. There is evidence that sugar addicts' brains look on PET scans like cocaine or nicotine addicts' brains--vast spaces of non-functioning serotonin receptors. Only staying away from the substance that gives the drugged chemical rush can allow the brain chemistry to heal and homeostasis to return.

Or, if a mechanistic explanation doesn't appeal, think of it in psychology/addiction terms. The urge to eat sweets is driven by emotions. Eating AS serves to distract you from the emotional state, soothe you, and keeps you in an unhealthy cycle of denial, self-medication, guilt, more self-medication, etc. Abstenance is the way out, as is therapeutically (self-help work is fine) dealing with the underlying causes of wanting to self-medicate, healing, then expanding one's spiritual life, and so on. Karen posts many excellent comments about sugar addiction on the board, and I've found the comments at coping.org on addiction and bingeing very enlightening.

And yes, it's a your mileage may vary thing, but for me, the addiction keeps trying clever strategies to convince me that "just a little" or "artificial" or other special circumstances won't hurt, are an exception to the rule, not to worry. Clever and devious, those urges.

I think that PMS emotions are strong--and a number of writers say that this could be partly because women in our culture are so over-busy, yet the waning of the monthly cycle is a natural time of quiet and inward movement...but unable to do this because of real-world obligations, we get snarly and unhappy. Needing drugs to propel us beyond this reluctance and into action, we turn to chocolate, caffeine, sugar.

I think it's best to try and live just three months without AS (which can't be good for us) or sugar--let the brain chemistry heal some. See if you can live without sweets--just a small test. There's AS galore out there for the rest of your life after those three months. And if you can't get through the three months, that's a valuable thing to know, too.