Coming from an alcoholic family, I know all about the replacement thing. My mom replaced booze w/church (and then, unfortunately, pills

). When you have an addictive personality it's very difficult to find a happy medium, especially with food since (like you said) you HAVE to eat. You'll find tons of support in Chicks in Control
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/chicks-control-64/ which deals with over-eating & binging. Good luck!