When it comes to starting an exercise/weight loss program, the typical approaches to get you motivated simply aren't adequate when you're fighting a chronic illness. For a reasonably healthy person, it gets you all fired up when you think about achieving your big goal - for example, dropping 30-50 lbs in the next several months.
But goals that require a consistent effort, just seem impossible when you can't even count on your body to be up to doing the basic tasks of everyday living. Even if you're confident that you can address any issues with eating, it's hard to believe that you'll be able to exercise consistently enough to ever reach even a modest goal...
For me, I had to find something more powerful to get me to fight through the illness to do a workout. In a nutshell, it's about empowerment. At the end of each day, if I did my workout and stayed on track with my food plan, I achieved my biggest goal - a sense of empowerment and at least for today, a little victory in my fight against the illness. I'm still excited about my longer term goals, but this daily goal is the one that makes me always feel my fitness program is worth the struggle, regardless of how things turn out with my long-term goals.