You know what kept me motivated the most? I found an exercise that I liked. I calorie-counted, but it's the exercise that I got addicted to. I began by just walking a little each day, and soon I was pushing for 2 mile walks. Then when I got to my first goal, I upped that to 5 miles walks. Now I do the same thing, but will toss in interval runs, too. I rely on the exercise as my feel-good, my keep-me-in-check, and as my stress relief.
Doesn't mean I don't have a week here and there where I get lazy or maybe the holidays happen and I put on 5 lbs of bloat - but I turn it right around and get it back off. Your motivation will come to you. Might be visual, might be mental, might be physical. You will find it.