Welcome and congratulations on your success! We're glad you found us here and hope you join us in posting on our weekly chat threads.
It sounds like you're stuck right in the realities of maintenance with the rest of us. It IS hard to stay motivated and committed when we don't have that instant gratification of the scale going down and clothes getting looser and the compliments dry up ...
So I don't even bother looking for motivation any more. Whether I'm motivated or not isn't really relevant to the choices I make. I don't ask myself if I
*want* to do something, like exercise or prepare healthy meals. Not to sound like a cliche, but for me, it's become a matter of
just doing it.
Just like you say in your post, I know what I
should do and I also know what's going to happen if I don't do it (gain the weight back
). So when I weigh the two options against each other - doing what I need to do to keep the weight off or gaining the weight back - I'll pick Option A, thanks!
I'm guessing that your energy will come back if exercise becomes a regular part of your life. Honestly, I never believed that exercise would give me energy - the whole notion seemed ridiculous and counterintuitive - but lo and behold! They were right! No matter how tired or frustrated or depressed or whatever I feel - I ALWAYS feel better after I work out. Who would have thunk it??!!
In addition to being an energy boost, exercise also is a critical component of maintenance. If you poke around and read some of our old threads, you'll see how essential daily exercise is for all of the maintainers here. Statistics from studies back our experiences up and you've probably read the latest government recommendations for weight loss maintenance: 60 - 90 minutes of exercise per day. So the bottom line for me is that exercise is non-negotiable. It's built into my day, whether I'm motivated to do it or whether I'd rather stay in bed and sleep for an extra hour.
So my suggestion for you is to schedule exercise in as part of your day. Write it into your planner if necessary! And then just do it.
Don't ask yourself if you want to or if you feel like it because that gives you the option not to do it. Just do it as one of those things in life that we do whether we are motivated or not (brushing our teeth, changing the kitty litter, paying our taxes etc). I'm guessing that soon you'll feel the rewards of exercising and it will become something you enjoy and want to keep on doing.
Anyways, sorry for the long dissertation and welcome to Maintainers!