Rosario's New Take on Life

Name: S. Rosario U. Medina

Occupation: Architect

Location: Palma de Mallorca, Islas Baleares, Spain

1. What is your fitness story?

Even though I was born in Punta del Este, Uruguay, my family and I have been living in the beautiful Island of Mallorca for the last 12 years, in the capital city, Palma de Mallorca.

I have always been a relatively active person. I have practiced different sports throughout my life. I was part of the volleyball team at college, plus, I have always practiced cycling, (as much outdoors as indoors), and I take long walks along the sea.

The change of country, customs, etc., changed my life and my usual habits completely. I started smoking again, and gradually I was turning into a sedentary person with all the consequences, such as weight gain, mood swings, etc.

In 2010, my little sister was diagnosed with brain tumor, and 8 months ago we received the bad news that the tumor had returned and that she had only a few more month to live. This had such a devastating effect on me and was a major impact in general on my life. I went to Uruguay to say goodbye to her and when I returned, everything changed! I decided that I would not continue "wasting time” complaining and sitting around not doing anything. I decided that since I could still take the reins of my own life, I should do something on the matter in honor to my sister and for my own good. On February 1st she regrettably passed away, but her spirit, her happiness, and her will to live remains in all our family. She accompanies me every day in my walks and motivates me to become better every time.

I started walking 3 to 4 km on a daily basis (for approximately 1 hour each day) and initially it was very difficult!! I was gradually increasing in time and km, up to a minimum of 12 km during working week and a minimum of 30 km on weekends. This new activity helped me a lot physically, but more in a psychological way by helping me to somehow overcome this irretrievable loss.

2. What is your typical fitness routine?

Normally, I walk every day. I try to do spinning as well as workout with two friends with a personal trainer. I also started Zumba recently, and due to my lack of coordination, it turned out to be a real challenge for me!

Usually, I take my first walk in the morning, between 5.30 and 6 a.m. I walk for 1 hour for approximately 6 km. Then after work on the days that I do not go to the gym, I normally go for walks with my lovely dog “LUNA,” and we usually walk about 8 or 9 km. The days that I cannot go out in the mornings, I walk in the evening for at least 12 km.

The personal training which is twice a week basically consists of aerobic exercises, “tabata,” kickboxing, weightlifting, etc. Plus Zumba, which is once a week. The weekends are different, when I have more free time and therefore I walk 20 km in the morning and again in the evening around 15km.

3. What motivates you to stay fit?

As I said before, the first and most important thing, is Kenny, my sister. I know that she would be proud of my effort! And also, certainly the rest of my family!

Additionally, my great and dear friends in Argus! It is so good to have friends who greet you every day, congratulate you, and help you to give the best of yourself!! They celebrate your achievements as their own, which is fantastic!! The challenges in Argus form part of this motivation and the challenges or teams that are organized internally, like #20kdayclub, #teamsquat, the challenge of “UK team vs. Mediterranean team”, “Easter challenge”, etc.

My friends in real life are Ana and Tonina, with whom I do personal training in the gym. Maria and I walk a lot on weekends. They all motivate me, and day after day and they give me the strength to continue.

Now that it has been a year since I stopped smoking, beginning to do sports helped me to be stronger in this aspect and made me think with clarity about this. Lose weight, get fitter... everything has been more than good. Why not keep motivated? It is really easy!!

Finally, to have one hour a day just for myself to think and to do sports is the best thing ever!

In every way this application changed my life and I do not say this just for the sake of it! I do really mean it!

4. How do you fit working out in your life?

Well, sometimes it is not easy between work and family life. As I said before, my walks during the workweek used to be in the early mornings when my family was asleep and in the evenings while my son was studying. I try not to break the daily family routine and if you organize yourself you can fit it in perfectly!

5. What are your health/fitness plans for the future?

The first thing is to continue with this pace, and slightly improve day by day.

In May, my goal is to take 100000 steps in one day, a thing that my best friends in Argus have already done and I am very motivated to do the same!!

And finally, I want to start running and taking part in a marathon!!

6. How long have you been using Argus?

Even though I joined Argus in 2014, it wasn’t until August 2015 that I first started using it actively. Initially, I didn’t have any friends and I wasn’t interested in anyone, but after the first friend, everything was changing. Bit by bit I began to have more and more friends to enjoy and share my daily life with. I think that the most surprising and entertaining thing is to have friends all over the world, with different religions and customs, but with a common objective: keeping healthy and active!! This is thrilling and teaches us a life lesson.

7. What are the top 3 things you track using Argus?

Well, I like tracking my walks and the GPS follow-up. I really enjoy following the map where I have walked, I think it was one of the first things that I got hooked on with Argus! The second thing is that I check and keep track of my heart rate trends. Finally, “Sleep Time” is very helpful. I normally sleep very poorly and very little. “Sleep Time” has helped me to control my sleep and has helped me to improve!!

8. What advice do you have for new users of Argus?

Argus is an application to register your sports activity, but it is also a social app. This part is as good as the other parts. Sharing photos of your city or yourself is an option that not everyone likes. In my case, I do it and I enjoy it a lot, because in my opinion it’s good to put a face and place to the people you "speak to" every day.

I often feel bad when I cannot answer my friends or acknowledge their support immediately, but in the end I realize that we all have our lives and daily routines that no one should take offense at not receiving an answer straight away. So when you first start, you will be very active socially, but then you fall back, but don’t worry, we all continue there!!!

The Argus community is full of wonderful and inspiring people embarking on their own unique fitness journey. If you, or someone you know, have a great story to share, we would love to hear from you. Contact us by emailing maggie@azumio.com.