Excited new member

[Fairy]

Hello!

My name is Fairy, there is no real reason for this specific name. I love magic and stories. I read the manga Fairy Tail and fell in love with the carefree attitude they have.

Behind the computerscreen people call me Daniel!

My life haven't been easy. I have been weak most of my life. Ever since 2 years actually.

I never saw any real interest in being "fit" and "strong" those words didn't reach out to me back then.

Today things have changed. 2 years ago i had my first step in a gym. Oh the horror!! Couldn't even bench ~65 lb.....

I realized i wanted a change, which was ofc good, but it's hard when you don't have any knowledge at all about exercise.

Today i exercise almost every day. But with little result. I'm not going to lose motivation. But i feel something is missing.

When Steve said he'd worked out for some years with hardly any result i feel that's where i am at this moment.

So, here i am. The reason i sought to this site is that i saw this lecture with Steve. It really inspired me to have specified goals to go with.

At the moment i'm stuck with my current weight and strength and so, i want to improve!

I also want to change my lifestyle. I study at collage so it takes a lot of time. But i'm not gonna let that stop me from doing what i want!

Here follows some goals of mine:

• Complete a muscle-up
  
• Get the best score from every exam during a term
  
• Win a boxing- or mma match
  

These are my primary goals. I am joining this army with hopes of at some point reach my goals!

Now for some questions.

I apologize for the newbie questions. I want to get a clear picture of how i am going to achieve my goals.

How do i present my "class"? I noticed the forums had parts like: monks, warriors etc

Do i create my own challenge? How do i know what stats increase and how much?

Lets make this one count!

Mana, the stuff which magic comes from.

[Tocho]

Hej Daniel! Welcome to NF! The forum just changed server hosts (I think) so the explanations for how classes and challenges work aren't available yet (hopefully very soon again they will be though). The next challenge should start a few days after the current one has ended. The current one ends on September 17th.

Where in Sweden are you?

[Fairy]

Oh, i see. Then i will be patient and wait for the next challenge!

I'm currently resident in Lund! And where are you from, country fella?!

[Tocho]

Ahh, the University of Lund. It was either that or Uppsala, haha. Where in Sweden are you from originally?

I live a few kilometres outside of Göteborg.

[Fairy]

Helsingborg, hehe. So, how do i state my "class"? I've looked at them and really cant decide which one i fit best as xD

[Seven]

Welcome Fairy - are you hoping to gain upper body strength or over all? Do you take martial arts or boxing classes?

I'm a newbie too so can't answer your other questions, although I hope to participate in the next upcoming challenge. Welcome!!

[Thilde]

Now for some questions.

I apologize for the newbie questions. I want to get a clear picture of how i am going to achieve my goals.

How do i present my "class"? I noticed the forums had parts like: monks, warriors etc

Do i create my own challenge? How do i know what stats increase and how much?

You choose which guild you want to be in based on what types of things you like to do, what your goals are, etc. I'm a Ranger because I like to do a little bit of everything...but I have some Assassin tendencies (interest in parkour and gymnastics) so I might end up an Assassin someday. You can also change guilds anytime you want. It's not etched in stone. To "join" a Guild you basically just decide to be in that guild, and most people also post a thread in their chosen Guild's general forum saying something like "Hey, I've decided to be a _____, here's a little about me!" There's no sign-up process for joining a guild.

Your character starts with 15 experience points, which you divide up between Strength, Dexterity, Stamina, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma. You can see in people's signatures how they divided theirs up. I find it most helpful to try to be as true to your actual abilities as possible. This represents Level 1, or your starting point.

You do create your own challenge. Before the 6wks officially starts (the next one should be starting in about a week and a half), you come up with your goals....3 fitness goals and 1 life goal. For each challenge, you can potentially earn another 15 total experience points. So, for your 4 goals, you divide up the 15 possible points to earn among the goals. I have a running goal, a plank goal, a meditation goal, and a paleo/primal diet goal. So, for example, I made my running goal worth STA +3 DEX +1 and my meditation goal worth WIS +3 CHA +2. My plank is worth STR +3 and my paleo goal is worth CON +3. If I achieve the goal 100%, I get all the points...if I only make it part way, I can still get some points. Spezzy has an article to help with calculating partial points (it's currently down at the moment but I think they're working on getting those links working again).

To participate in the challenge, you sign up (Spezzy will post a link to do this before the challenge starts) and then you post a thread with your goals in your chosen Guild's Challenge forum. If you browse around the forums now, you'll see our challenge threads there, that we're working on for this current challenge....that's a good way to get an idea of how to write up your goals and what other people are working on for their goals. Then, as you go through the 6wks, you update your challenge thread as much as you want, and people will often post back with encouragement and advice. That's basically all there is to it!

Welcome to NF! Feel free to ask questions...people here are super nice and filled with helpful advice for goal-setting, workouts, diet, etc. Look forward to seeing you around the forums!

[Fairy]

Thanks a lot for the info Sambie! I'll be checking out how to get count stats etc when it's back up.

I've read some challenges. So the deal is to create a challenge for myself before the next heat? In 1½ weak. Right?

[Thilde]

They should be achievable, slightly challenging, and measurable. "Win a boxing match" is a good goal, if you're currently training in boxing and will be competiting in matches witin the 6 week challenge period, and if setting that as a goal will help push you to train harder, fight better. It's *not* a great goal if you've never put on a pair of boxing gloves before, or have no matches due, or if setting that goal will make you stressed but not train any harder, for example.

^THIS. Athena speaks truth. I think we all have that moment in a challenge when we're like "Yep, THIS goal was not achievable!" So we re-calibrate for next time. Because, there's always next challenge! As you go through challenges, you'll learn how your body and mind interact with your environment and your circumstances...so you'll get a better and better sense of what's achievable for you and how hard you can push yourself before you've pushed too far. One of the best things about doing a NF challenge is you become more in tune with how you work, what makes your mind and body tick...as you learn that, you can harness those lessons to fuel yourself to do things you never thought you could do.

[Fairy]

Thanks for the advises! I'm really excited about my goals. I'm almost positive i'll be joining the warriors since i want to be stronger.

It's as you said, Athena, I have never actually put on boxing gloves. But it's a future goal.

At this point, all i want to do is to get stronger.