Fit to Print Volume 23 Issue 2: June 2014 | Page 9

UltraFit

By Amy Llinas Lynch

Trust the Process
Amazing Transformative Fitness
About 8 months ago I received the
incredible opportunity of being able to
work with Vin Valdemira. Not only has
Vin been such an amazing person to work
with, but he has also motivated me with
his tenacity and willingness to change his
life. I have been so impressed by Vin's
transformation that I invited him to
share his story below.

Vin before...

and After
Q: What motivated you to begin training?
A: The impact of Hurricane Sandy had a
profound effect on my family. My son, his
wife and three children were forced out
of their home due to the effects of the
flooding. In the days following the storm,
I saw the stress build on my son to such
an extent that it was impossible for me to
stand on the sidelines and watch. So I
took on the responsibility of rebuilding
their home. In essence the stress was
immediately placed on me as well. I am a
stress eater. The more stress I have, the
more I eat. And boy did I eat!
Over the next eight months I ate and
drank enough to gain about thirty-five
pounds. Yes, thirty-five pounds on top of
already being overweight by at least fifty
pounds. So with about 85 pounds of extra
weight on me, my blood pressure began
to spiral out of control. It seemed like I
was always tired and grumpy. I no longer
felt viable at work, in a job that I had

previously loved. Worst of all, I was
consuming more alcohol that I can ever
previously remember. The final straw
that my motivation to train came from
was both my doctor and my
cardiologist. They both basically said I
was headed down a slippery slope with
stroke or heart attack an ever growing
possibility in my future.
I do not regard myself as selfish, but
the health risks I was taking, in
retrospect, certainly were. Failing to
consider how my unhealthy status
would ultimately affect my family was
about as selfish as I could have gotten.
As a starting point to remedying this
situation, I decided to join a health
club to begin an exercise regimen. Last
August I became a member at Fitness
Incentive, and I ran into my good friend
and fellow FI member, Jacqui Spinks. I
asked her if she could suggest a trainer
and she quickly recommended her own,
Amy Llinas Lynch. Connecting with Amy
had an immediate and extremely
positive effect on me. Amy convinced
me to take a slow and steady approach
with regard to cardio and weight
training. She also recommended a
nutritional approach that allowed me
the flexibility to adhere to a diet, but
not one that was so restrictive that it
sucked all the pleasure out of life.
In the past, I'd exercised and dieted
successfully only to quickly gain it
back. With Amy, I had a professionally
supervised approach for training and
nutritional planning. Under her
guidance and through my desire to
reclaim my good health and my love for
my family and friends, I embarked on
this road.
Q: When did you begin to notice
results?
A: From the weight loss perspective I
began to see results immediately, and
have averaged approximately 8-10
pounds of weight loss per month over
my eight-month journey. The love of
my life, Patricia, was my advocate and
“Chef Extraordinaire,” keeping me
focused on eating clean and lean. She
prepared meals both healthy and
interesting, and in many cases these
new recipes are becoming the new
standard in our kitchen. The biggest
tool for managing my food intake is
using My Fitness Pal which helps me
Summer 2014 FIT to Print

track my macro-nutritional targets for
protein, carbs, fat, and sugar. Finding the
balance of protein, carbs, and fat was a
key to losing weight. But I also wanted to
lose the accumulated belly fat, so I had )Ѽ