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Weight loss can be a full-time job. There are meal kits you can try, intense workout regimens, juice cleanses and questionable diet pills. While it’s easy to take advantage of the overwhelming number of options available to help you, you have to be motivated to actually take the first steps towards a healthier life.

When I gained weight after college, I was sitting in front of a computer for a 40-hour work week and didn’t feel like I had any additional time or energy to devote to my health. In hindsight, prioritizing my health would have given me more energy. But the fact of the matter is that I didn’t have any motivation to sort through all the fads. All I knew was that I wanted to be comfortable in my own skin again.

I turned to WeightWatchers in 2019 and I was very skeptical about whether it would work for me or not. Now three years later and 30 pounds lighter, I know I made the right decision. The program helped me not only lose weight but start living a much healthier lifestyle.

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What is WeightWatchers?

If you’re not familiar with WeightWatchers, it’s an Oprah-approved program that helps members achieve a healthier lifestyle. While weight loss is the most sought-after benefit of following the program, it offers plenty of other benefits. It promotes hydration, physical fitness, meditation and better sleep. It’s tied at #1 for Best Diet Program and Best Weight-Loss Diet and #3 for Easiest Diets to Follow by the U.S. News and World Report.

WeightWatchers uses a simplified calorie-counting system that is personalized based on your age, weight, height and sex to help you lose weight in a healthy way. Every food and drink has a corresponding point value. Saturated fat and sugar are higher in point value, while proteins are fewer. There are even foods valued at zero points that you can find on a ZeroPoint food list, which can be consumed to your heart’s content. You’re allotted a specific number of points for each day so, in theory, if you consume the equivalent of your daily points or fewer, you should lose weight. The aim is to guide you toward making better choices and, with practice, to make those choices habitual.