Exercise, sleep, diet, and hydration are definitely important first steps. However, I felt a unique sense of pain when I was doing all of those things and still feeling empty, miserable, and angry.

I guess what I'm getting at is: don't beat yourself up if you go through the checklist and still feel bad. That's a sign that there are other external or internal factors that exercise won't address, and that therapy could help with.

Terry Crews had a clip where he talks about the exercise habit, and how he (not sure if he did this or suggested this) would go to the gym for the time he allotted for exercise each day, even when he didn’t want to. And if he didn’t want to work out, he’d read a book in the locker room or walk at 1mph. A friend of mine did this, and eventually built an exercise habit out of it because, “why not, I’m already here?”. Obviously if funds or facilities aren’t there you could just change into exercise gear and go to a park to sit. Eventually you’ll move.

So OP, give yourself protected time and protect it.

While your intentions may be good, it's worth noting that these things can have negative effects on some people. For example, they can disrupt sleep patterns, lead to feelings of failure and low self-esteem, and drain energy levels.

> you're not american so I assume you're not morbidly obese or other issues

Had to slip in the insult, didn't ya?

>"Especially you who seem to be in decent health (you're not american so I assume you're not morbidly obese or other issues)."

Obesity is a global epidemic.[1][2]. It's has been a global issue for a very long time now. This is not new. It's odd that such an advocate of exercise doesn't understand this.

>"You appear debt free? Guess what, you're richer than most american."

It also seems odd and gratuitous that you felt the need to make two negative comments about America in a post about the benefits of exercise. It's even odder still considering you are responding to someone who clearly stated they prefer to go back to America and that they were actually happy there.

[1] https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1113312

[2] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and...