Does anyone else chose gym over social stuff??

Meh, who cares what other people think. I treat gym night like other people treat kid's night, date night, pizza night, worship day, family night, etc. It's something I have committed to and I respect that commitment by sticking to it.

I adjust my workout schedule around events. But I don't have a lot of events to go to LOL

i've actually canceled things with friends because i have to work out in the morning.

Always, sometimes over work too.

I have several times been invited to dinner and passed it up to go to the gym. I just tell them if they move the time a little later I can join them, but if not I will try the next time. I can't justify going to eat dinner, knowing my love of food that isn't good for me, over the gym. I have invited my friends to go for a 3 mile walk with me and sometimes they actually come with me. This allows the social time with my friends and gets a good cardio workout in at the same time. I figure my friends will have to learn to love the healthy me better than the me they have helped enable to get fat (my friends have always enjoyed hanging out with food and adult beverages).

I gave up drinking in college so I could go to the gym at 7, 8, 9:00 every night. It was primo. No one there and I gave up booze and lost lbs like cray cray.

I live away from family so connections are important. I can work around my workouts to see my friends. I def. need to do better with my workouts

I go to the gym at least 5 times per week, so I will frequently have to tell people that I can't make some event due to a commitment I made to myself to take better care of myself.

Now, I will try to move things around my schedule to accommodate other things that I want to do, but in most cases, gym time has priority over anything social.

This might be selfish, but it's my MO anymore. And I do like the results I've seen.

I have pushed back a Friday evening workout to Saturday afternoon in order to attend a social event, but it doesn't happen often. All of my friends and family (especially my husband) understand that working out is an important part of my life. I have no problem arriving a little late due to a workout session as well.

I try to do gym before a social event, having said that, I try not to be too social because it usually means food & drinks and I can't help myself.

i find myself preferring going to the gym over seeing people and socializing more and more lately. can't tell if its ****ty people or that i love exercising lately. meh. who cares.

As long as you are not using it as an avoidance tactic (procrastination) then you should stick with what you feel most compelled to do. It is up to you to decide your values over priorities - If we consider this at an extreme - an athlete will put training first - perhaps over family, work or other social values. What could be worst lets say the reverse is true you use social events and find every excuse to avoid going to the gym (this would the the reverse avoidance tactic). Certainly it is all about living a balanced life and your friends / family will not be insulted if they know you well and know that you are doing this because it is important to you and that you have the strength of character to follow through with something you said you were going to do. What would be rude is to say yes to the social event and not turn up "blow them off" to go to the gym. Be honest and forward and confident that you are in control of your life and you know what you want / need to do to achieve your goals; if people around you do not respect that then screw them anyhow.

Sometimes Friday nights when I choose not to go out, I think to myself "While everyone else is out drinking their calories, I am here - burning mine".

I think it is all about balance.

My partner and I are what you could define as 'gym junkies', generally doing two sessions a day - we love it. We aren't big on the 'club' scene which is kind of ideal, both calorically (is that even a word) and financially. But, we do enjoy occasionally heading down to the Pub for the members draw, or a countery and having a couple of drinks.

We just make sure that we have done our workouts for the day, and I ensure that I have pre-allocated the 'worst-case scenario' dinner on MFP so I know how many calories I need to have burnt in order to go out and relax with that meal and those couple of drinks.

But, it is definitely about balance - and doing what you love. If the gym is your love, do it. Just please don't become obsessive and miss out on life...............

Nope, I never feel bad because I have goals in mind. Going to the gym is only like half of getting a better body. I do it for my mental and emotional health and if people cant understand that, then I dont want them in my life anyways. People who dont work out always tend to hate on those that ARE doing good things. But, even if they do hate....they are still watching you make improvements for yourself, so stay positive!......and ask them to JOIN you!!! Maybe they are getting tired of going out to the bars but are hesistant to ask you about fitness or nutrition....make that extra step and people will appreciate it! Good luck, and yes...Ive skipped many events to work out. I have priorities, plain and simple and my HEALTH is at the top of that list!
Good luck and Feel free to add me!

-Shannon