Hasn't it been shown that artificial sweeteners can mess with your blood sugar level and may be just as bad for you as sugar? It seems like it would be best to wean yourself from the craving for sweets.
Yeah, there is a lot of different studies about artificial sweeteners, it's a pretty controversial topic...
They probably aren't great for you, but I don't think it's near as bad as consuming 40g of sugar/High fructose corn syrup per soda...
Ideally you stay away from both, but If you are going to drink a soda/sweetened drink, go with the one with 0g sugar and 0g carbs...
Its too easy to intake an stupid amount of carbs and sugar from just liquids...3 sodas in one day and boom...140g of carbs/sugar already...even worse, their "empty carbs", which is to say, it provides you with no nutritional energy/value.
Note: I'm not a dietician/nutritionist. Just someone who has used the above methods and have had great results.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/20140917/artificial-sweeteners-blo...