Comfort eating tips/alternatives

I always try to reserve 100 or so calories so I can have a treat a they end of the night and not go over my limit. I'll crawl into bed with a good book and a skinny cow caramel truffle ice cream bar, or a jello pudding or whatever I just make sure it fits into my cals!

Use my hands.
I've been teaching myself how to play the piano. We have a digital one with headphones, so i spend 1/2 anhour a day on that.
Also i do alot of crafts. So try sewing, knitting, lace making etc.
Also good is anything creative, like painting, drawing sculpture.
Or you can try to learn a language or whatever.
The trick for me is to avoid the tv. I'm more likely to mindlessly eat when watching crap. Also i read that ppl who watch more than an hour of tv are more likely to be overweight. So i figure if i dont't watch tv i wont be overweight .

Another thing you can try is excersize to fill in time till bed time. If you have already done your workout do some light pilates/ yoga/ stretching.

Hi all, this is my 1st post so hope i'm doing it right :O)

Comfort/binge eating is something I struggle really badly with, I can diet until my hearts content but I always ruin it by binging.
It's like a constant battle in my head, I have a lot of self hatred to I comfort eat and hate myself more so I just do it again and it's a vicious circle. I've made a pact to myself that if I find myself craving "bad" food or am tempted to binge that I will first of all do something for myself! So I think, okay so i'm going to eat loads of chocolate and make myself feel sick and horrible, that's fine but first I am going to paint my nails/cleanse and moisturise/comb my hair/have a bath/be proactive and do something i've been putting off etc, etc.
It doesn't work all the time but sometimes i'll get so distracted and forget that I want to binge and sometimes I just feel that tiny little bit better about myself and it gives me the little extra strength I need to say no i'm not going to do it and that then sometimes pushes me on to go longer and longer without comfort eating or binge eating.
The main thing for me is to do this as soon as i get the urges. Last night for example i was thinking about food, it was late and i was tired, so i took the easy option, instead of doing what I had promised myself I put it off, kept watching TV and in the end I just gave in and ate a load of crap, I felt gross immediately but just had to suck it up as it was already done, but I figure that even if it only works for me half the time, that means 50% less binges and I can work on reducing that over time rather than constantly beating myself up and doing it a lot more. (if that makes any sense at all)

I think there have also been some very good suggestions already given, especially the craft things, i'm trying (and failing miserably) to learn to crochet and that is keeping me distracted at the moment as well.
I wish you luck and i think the key thing is to try different things and work on it slowly and hopefully you will be able to overcome it as i'm trying to do. xxx

Cheese. I put cheese on it.

i'll pop a stick of gum in my mouth, as i often find myself eating because i'm bored and eating something is the first activity that's popped into my head. also, i suspect i may have an oral fixation since i'm always chewing on pens. the 5 calories (or whatever, i haven't actually looked or logged it, lol) in a stick of gum is better than the calories i'd take in if i sat down with a bag of chips or handful of cookies...and it lasts longer!!

i have a question for you fellow binge/boredom/comfort eaters...if you're craving something sweet--and i'm talking seriously sweet, like a candy bar, or ice cream--what is an alternative that has worked for you?? i've tried fruit, etc, but sometimes i wonder if it's not a texture thing because i'll specifically crave baked goods, or a chocolate bar, etc. and an apple or handful of grapes doesn't do anything to kill the craving. any ideas??

I comfort eat a lot mainly due to depression lack of self esteem feeling uselss etc. I cant seem to stop. So what I do is burn loads of calories in the gym (on average about 900 a day) and that gives me a higher calorie intake figure to work too. Not the best way I agree but its all Ive got at the moment.

If you want to stay on track and can't keep yourself from giving into temptation at home, you need to set yourself up for success by controlling the foods you bring home.

This. I work on the theory that i dont need will power all the time. I only need to have it when i go shopping.

Never shop when you are hungry. Write your meal plan/ shopping list just after a meal and stick to your list.

Also if you find that you are genuinly hungry at night, u could try either only eating 1/2 to 3/4 of dinner at dinner time and having the rest later, or making sure you eat lots of filling low cal foods ( eg vegetables protein) to stop youself getting hungry.
Another low cal snack is to try a protein shake, they are quite sweet, you need to have lots of water, which will fill you up too.