Exercise... yes, yes! We all know by now it is good for us and we should do a bit every day.

We have all heard how going to the gym three times a week, or walking up the stairs instead of catching the lift, or walking every day is vital for our health.

So why do so many of us lack the motivation or willpower to fit exercise into our lives? Why are so many of us overweight?

Writing an opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald last month, journalist Mia Freedman stumbled on a home truth about finding the motivation to lose weight.

The epiphany came to her while interviewing Michelle Bridges, motivation guru and Australia's most famous and successful fitness trainer.

Through her exercise and weight loss programs, Michelle claims to have helped strip 100,000 kilograms of unwanted weight off Australian bodies. She's also a bit like a cult leader – full of vivacious enthusiasm for life.

Mia asked Michelle how people could motivate themselves to exercise. “What's the secret; the magic motivational bullet?"

Michelle’s answer might stun you … she thinks the idea of motivation is basically rubbish!

It may give those of us who have no motivation to exercise an ‘aa-haa!’ moment and it could be the missing link when it comes to understanding why so many Australians don't exercise enough, or even at all.

As Mia wrote: “Like the rest of us, Bridges doesn’t adore exercise when she’s doing it and she doesn't particularly look forward to it. And it’s this myth – that we should love exercise and be inspired to do it – that so many of us use as an excuse not to.

“Bridges says she’s asked about motivation all the time because people assume she is a motivation machine. But she’s not. ‘I don't wake up, pump my fist in the air and go, Yes! I'm going running! Running! Yesssss!!’ insists Bridges. Just like she doesn't wake up and go, ‘Yes! I'm brushing my teeth!’ or ‘Yes! I have a dentist appointment!’ It’s just what she does.

“And if you wait for motivation to magically appear? You'll still be sprawled on your couch watching The Real Housewives in a decade. The clouds won't part. Inspiration will not strike. You will probably never be overcome by the urge to exercise. You. Just. Do. It. (Turns out Nike might be onto something.)

“Accidentally, I've taken this approach to exercise for a long time. It's also known as the don't-negotiate-with-terrorists method, if by ‘terrorists’ you mean the part of yourself that would prefer to sleep in or go for drinks after work, instead of moving vigorously until bits of your body hurt and get sweaty.”

So, if you take the Mia Freedman approach, you should not ‘negotiate’ with yourself about exercise. Ever. Accept that exercise is one of the most boring and predictable things in your life but also one of the most important.

Mia Freedman writes: “The way I side-step the need for motivation is to remove as many variables as possible. I exercise indoors, so weather doesn't matter. I exercise alone, so I'm not relying on anyone. I don't have a trainer or do classes, so it's not budget dependent.

“I always exercise in the morning and always on cardio machines. The morning part is crucial. It means I don't spend the day having those exhausting debates in my head about whether I will or won't do it after work. Exercising in the morning is as much a part of my routine as getting dressed.

“Before you say it, yes, I'm sure I could get far better ‘results’ if I mixed it up, got a trainer, cross-trained, yada yada yada. But for me, doing that would be risky and counter-productive because it's the very predictability, sameness and lack of spontaneous change that make it more likely to happen.”

Mia writes daily at mamamia.com.au and you can follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/miafreedman