Get your life back
A straight-talking guide to weight, men’s health and keeping going.
For the bloke who’s already had a few fresh starts and wants something that will still make sense on Thursday.
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Read an extractKindle edition
You might have bought this because something needs to change. You might have been handed it by someone who thinks something needs to change. Either way, you don’t need to arrive keen, organised or ready to announce a new you.
Perhaps you’ve already done the enthusiastic bit. Bought the food, joined the gym, downloaded the app. Perhaps it worked for a while. Now you’re back here, and the thought of another fresh start feels more tiring than the problem itself.
This book starts with a different question: what keeps making your ordinary week difficult, and what would actually help?
Inside the book
Start where
you are.
Eleven chapters you can read in order or dip into when you need an answer.
When you know something needs to change
Matt’s story, the numbers people get asked to track and what those numbers can tell you about your health.
- The Moment You Know Something Has to Change
- Understand Your Numbers and the Rest of You
- Obesity, Illness and the Bloke in the Middle
When the week keeps getting in the way
Food for workdays and late teas, movement that fits your life, and what sleep, stress and drinking can do to a week.
- Grub for a Normal Week
- Fit for the Life You Have
- The Rest of the Week
When treatment or support gets complicated
Questions to take to a healthcare professional and a way to get your notes in order when a plan or provider changes.
- The Treatment Conversation
- When the Plan Goes Sideways
When you’re working out how to keep going
Make time for what you miss, keep what’s helping and work out what to do when the old routine stops fitting.
- Life Back
- Keeping It Off
- Your Next Shift
The write-in pages
Your next shift.
Each chapter ends with an example you can use to plan your own next step. There’s space at the back to write it down, alongside an appointment note and an eight-week log.
Getting back to the match
- One action
- Ask a mate about Saturday, then check the seat, travel and walk to the ground.
- Easier version
- Watch together somewhere local if the ground won’t work this time.
- Check back
- On Sunday, ask whether you enjoyed the company and what you’d change next time.
About the author
Matt
Matt founded Shift Some Timber after spending years putting off changes he knew he needed to make. He wrote the book he wanted then, with plain answers, questions worth asking and something you can try in the week ahead.
Get Your Life Back
Kindle edition 1 December 2026
The paperback button currently opens the Kindle listing.