Trying to lose weight, stress eater

I am in a similar situation - I work long hours and travel - Stress eating is one of my biggest issues. Looking to get back on track and prepared! Feel free to add - would be good to support through those stressful times!

A few things helped me with my stress eating when I was getting started.

1) I stepped up my exercise. First, it gives more calories to play with, so eating a little more isn't as derailing. Second, I find it really helps me reduce my stress levels. Slightly off-topic, but I'm also a boredom eater and keeping active means I'm not as bored.

2) I'm an introvert. Social gatherings are a source of stress for me. They are also, usually, a source of food for me. You can see the problem. What I've found really helps with the eating is deciding in advance what to have (if it's a regular thing where I 'know', the typical menu, I'll log what I specifically intend to eat. If I'm not sure, I'll allocate X number of calories for the gathering, try to look up a few common items in the database so I can get a ballpark idea of 'how many calories to a chocolate chip cookie/piece of birthday cake/jelly donut/etc' and go for it. Somehow, when I know I have "permission" to eat a brownie, it gives me the strength to resist the other items on the platter. Whereas, when I go in thinking to myself that I can't have ANY of the treats and I'm sticking to the fruit platter, the longer I'm there, the likelier I'll break down and have something, which makes me feel guilty, which stresses me, which makes me grab more pastry, which adds to the stress and guilt, which... yeah. You see where this is going. Figuring out that "A treat isn't necessarily a cheat" was a big help in not getting stressed over food and staying on plan.