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I've been doing a 5km/3.5-mile walk almost every day for over a year. The reason is that it's necessary for survival, but the increased energy/vigor is also nice. I'm extremely lazy, so I thought I'd write up some data on "getting the motivation".
The first motivating factor is understanding medicine. Half of adults over the age of 50 are essentially prediabetic, wearing out their pancreas heading toward Type 2 diabetes, which leads to blindness/neuropathy before early death.
No, drugs/pills don't really fix the problem. It's not something that you have a small chance of being affected by, and then take a pill to solve. It's a track you are on that probably will affect you, and which pills won't completely solve.
I've lost 40 pounds and have 40 more to go. The weight loss has made a dramatic difference in my health. All my blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. have switched from "very bad" to "very good".
So the biggest motivating factor is seeing that change works. So you cut out eggs because your doctor says you have high cholesterol, but you see no change, and this is very demotivating. Actual change motivates me.
As for which exercise, find anything that you'll do. I have an exercise bike, but I find that taking evening walks is more motivating. I don't know why this is. In theory, exercise bike in front of the TV should be more enjoyable.
I listen to podcasts while walking. I look forward to the walk now so I can listen to some interesting podcast. I don't listen to podcasts while not walking, so it stays as a motivating factor -- I can't listen to a podcast unless I'm walking.
I'm not a conscientious person. I procrastinate, which is why I usually end up going for the walk at 11pm. I hate those early morning joggers for being so effortlessly diligent. I fight daily against my motivation demons.
So one thing that helps motivation is having done it once, it no longer seems so hard the second time. When I started, going for a 4 mile walk was not something I thought I could do. Now it's something I do frequently.
Likewise, adverse weather conditions, like thundering downpours, seem like a good excuse to skip that day's walk. But having walked in that weather, it no longer is discouraging.
For me, diet and exercise reinforce each other. Exercise isn't an excuse to eat poorly. Why discard the hard-won gains of exercise by eating ice cream? If I've put that much work into it, I'm going to keep the gains by having a salad.
