You shouldn’t have to wait until something feels wrong to understand how your body works.
If you feel good right now, I want you here. You deserve to understand the body you live in while you’re going about your life, making decisions, and figuring out which health advice is worth your attention.
You hear about hormones constantly. But what do they actually do? What happens during a menstrual cycle? Which everyday habits deserve your energy? How do you tell whether a confident claim online has anything solid behind it?
Those are useful questions long before a symptom sends you searching. And if you already have symptoms, a diagnosis, or years of unanswered questions, you belong here too.
Who I am
I’m Lindsay, a board-certified Physician Associate (PA-C). My clinical work has included integrative and longevity medicine. Before I was a clinician, I was a teenager, and later a D1 volleyball player, going back to appointments with questions about my energy levels, periods and skin.
I always left appointments with questions that stayed with me. There was no time to ask all of the questions I had. That curiosity became part of why I went into medicine.
In my first job out of school, I cared for patients from newborns to older adults. They reminded me how much sitting down and explaining something thoroughly can positively influence the trajectory of someone’s health and well-being.
I went home after clinic to read the research, books, and guidelines so I could come back with even better answers and explanations each time they came back to see me. I’m bringing that same care and curiosity here, with more room to explain.
You can start before something is wrong
Maybe you’re in your twenties and want a better foundation. Maybe you’re navigating a change in your forties or fifties, or finally have time to ask questions you’ve carried for years.
Your health deserves attention in all of those versions of your life.
I want this education to help you build habits that make sense, understand appropriate preventive care, and recognize when a change is worth discussing with a clinician. Learning earlier gives you more opportunities to use what you know.
It cannot guarantee that you’ll avoid illness. Getting sick does not mean you failed to learn enough or do enough. You deserve useful information and good care wherever you’re starting.
Health literacy and health wisdom
Health literacy means being able to find, understand, and use health information: what your body does, what a claim means, and what questions might help you make a decision. Making that information clear and usable is part of my job here.
When I talk about health wisdom, I mean applying that understanding to your actual life. Knowing when to ask for help. Weighing evidence instead of following the loudest advice. Choosing a next step that fits your needs, resources, and priorities.
You can understand a topic without needing every test or product connected to it. You can care about your health without making it your entire personality.
That’s the kind of confidence I want you to build here.
One clear explanation each Thursday, delivered to your inbox.
What you’ll get from HowToHealth
Each Thursday, I’ll take a women’s health question and make it easier to understand. We’ll cover the foundations as well as specific concerns: cycles and hormones, energy, nutrition, and changes across life.
You can expect:
Explanations you can follow without a medical background. I’ll define the terms and show how the pieces fit together.
Evidence with context. I’ll distinguish what’s well established, what current research suggests, what’s only a plausible explanation, what remains uncertain, and what comes from my own clinical observations.
Questions you can bring to an appointment. Including what a test or treatment can tell you, its limits, and how it might affect your choices.
Practical perspective. What deserves your attention, what we still need to learn, and what advice leaves out about ordinary life.
There’s more to understand than any one appointment can cover. I want this to help you take part in those conversations with a clearer foundation and more efficient appointments. It’s the education between your visits; your own medical decisions belong in care that knows your history.
Let’s make this a conversation
The comments are a place to share what you’re learning, ask general questions, and help another reader feel comfortable asking hers. I’ll join those conversations.
Start with one: what would you most like to understand better: your cycle, your sleep, everyday health habits, or how to judge health advice? Keep personal medical details out of public comments.
You can also suggest a future topic here.
I hope you leave each article feeling more capable and a little more at home in your own body. I’m glad you’re here.
Congratulations, we’re healthing.
Lindsay
Join me for next Thursday’s explanation.