This fall, local trainer Todd Belin sent out dozens of e-mails and text messages a day telling his clients to eat better and exercise harder.

“I’m trying to motivate them, get them fired up!” said Belin, the program director of Belin Sport and Fitness, who sent out motivational texts and e-mails to ensure his fitness camp participants reached their goal of collectively losing 100 pounds in one month.

“I felt like Jillian Michaels on the [NBC show] ‘Biggest Loser,’” said Belin, who runs his weight loss courses for women of all ages at St. Brendan’s Catholic School in Norwood. “I wasn’t sure [we’d reach our goal] to begin, but then we pulled it off.”

With hour long cardio workouts, a nutritionist-approved, structured eating plan that included lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, his “boot camp style” methods do resemble a “Biggest Loser”-type approach.

“When you change your eating habits, it’s really hard, but after a week I knew it was good for me,” said Isolina Urena, a camp participant who lost 10 pounds during the challenge and says she now thinks twice before eating junk food. 

Cheryl Greene said it wasn’t just the healthy eating and cardio that helped her lose 10 pounds. She credits the camp’s holistic method that included some elements of spirituality. “You can do it physically, but you have to have your mind in the same place.”

Michele Green attributes her success to the “family setting” of the camp where the women constantly joked with each other and engaged in lighthearted games. “The accountability is motivating,” she said. 

Belin is starting another challenge in January, but this time he’s upping the ante to 201 pounds.

“I will be there in January come hell or high water,” promised Greene. “I am not letting go of what I accomplished.

Ed. Note: For more information on Belin Sport and Fitness, call (917) 476-9352 or visit BSandF.net.