Lee, I too get into a pattern where I have just about 6 days where I eat well and hardly think about sugar, and then an incredible need to binge on it comes over me. You've gotten some really good feedback here about the biochemistry of it and how it relates to the steps, but I also wanted to add that for me it feels like a pressure building up (even though I may have had sugar as a dessert during that week) and the tension gets so strong that I end up bingeing just for relief. I feel there's a real mental component to it--or psychological, whatever you want to call it. You look forward to having that release that comes from a binge and even though you may feel well physically and emotionally there's just this urge to revisit that old relief mechanism!

I've recently started on step 1, but I eat a very good diet otherwise (protein and complex carbs at each meal, sweets after a meal) because I'm hypoglycemic. I'm hoping that as I get more firmly established with the steps, especially adding the nighttime potato, this cycle will eventually lose its power.