Thank you everyone for your support!
I know so many different things that I could do to improve my mental and physical, and still somehow, I have failed and failed and failed again to implement them... Until this morning. Hooray for little wins.
Based on my understanding of the science and my own past experience, compound weight lifts, my favorite is the hex bar deadlift, provide the absolute best positive benefits in terms of minimal time invested. I've managed to make significant progress doing a short warmup and then just 3 sets of 1 rep of a relatively heavy weight (heavy for me, but baby weights for anyone that actually lifts). So like today, 5 reps of moderate weight, 5 minutes reading and drinking coffee, 1 rep of heavy weight followed by 5 minutes rest drinking coffee and walking around done three times. Twenty minutes of total time and actually only about 15 seconds of real effort. I know based on past experiences that I can get significantly stronger and feel a lot better if I do this 15 seconds of weight lifting even just once a week, so really just 1 minute a month.
I am so happy that I managed to finally lift again this morning after such a long break. I have been meaning to do so every day for the past several several months. I look forward to lifting again next Friday.
For further reading: " The available empirical evidence supports resistance exercise training as an alternative and/or adjuvant therapy for depressive symptoms." jamanetwork.com/journals/ja...