How do you guys stay motivated?

I've always struggled with motivation, but since having a kid I now want to get in shape for my son so I can be the best dad possible. I want to set a good example for him so he can avoid the lifelong obesity I've faced. I want to live the proper habits to teach him so he doesn't feel like staying fit is a chore, but something that is normal. I don't want to be an athlete or 10% body fat... Just healthy.

The motivation is now greater than myself.

So I kinda do what I call a “limiting” or “gradual release diet” that only allows me to eat so much as the day progresses. It’s based on the idea that our will power is strongest at the beginning of the day and weakens until sleep.
If Intermittent fast until noon, sometimes 1pm, putting nothing in me except water and espresso. At noon I eat a very green salad (spinach, kale, raw green beans, beets, cucumbers) with some fat free vinaigrette dressing. It normally isn’t that tastes, but come the end of an 18 hour hast anything is tasty and it is jam packed with vitamins and fiber!
A couple hours later I will snack on either an apple or a small pack of nuts. Then a couple hours later usually do either the apple or nuts, whichever I didn’t eat first snack. I’ll do Diet Coke and La Croix as well to help me feel full. In the afternoon around 4 I’ll usually do another espresso before at least an hour of cardio, then after that cardio just pound water and exist on the “runners high”/euphoric feeling of the exercise before eating a dinner of lean meat and lot of veggies around 6:30. After dinner if I’m still full I’ll drink chicken broth and eat cabbage. Right before bed I’ll eat a sweet potato with some cinnamon an coconut oil on it, which are my only legit carbs of the day.

I had to stop worrying about diet and focusing more on goals. Running has been crucial for me in this regard because race day and new goal times are always on my mind. They're what I work for.

I think as we get older - especially if you're in a relationship - the aesthetic goals of fitness become more difficult. I don't really have a need to look good naked. Hitting the gym and having a restrictive diet isn't sustainable in the long run IMO. Some people make it work, but it seems like most people fall off the train within a few years if not sooner.

Hired a coach. Someone to keep me accountable for what I eat.

I always have a beach trip planned on the back burner and I want to look good for my husband

I want live to an old age, be able to do fun things when I’m not in my 20s anymore and I want to be able to protect my family. I walk around all the time and see parents who are fat, out of shape, can’t even walk without breathing heavy. Easy targets. I’m not trying to sound like some tough guy, because I’m not. But if you are threat to my family, pack your lunch. We gonna be here a while.

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I hate being a fat frick, seriously it's that simple for me.

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That's what set me off. 2.5 years ago I was with some old friends & noticed I was the fattest of us all at 215 lbs. Was in the gym the following monday.

Ever since then, I'll take a week or so off and when I catch myself poking my rolls while taking a dump I know it's time to get the frick back in the gym

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I have no hobbies, so I pretend that running and lifting weights is one.

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Better than drugs and drinking.

For me, motivation follows action. When I take action to better myself, that drives my motivation.

When I get unmotivated, I focus on just doing things. That action drives motivation later.