The Two Voices Behind It

Every answer on this journal is written by one of two people and read by the other. We publish under pen names, Philippa and Bastien, because the writing matters more than the bylines and because we would rather you judge an article on what it says. This page is a short introduction to how two quite different temperaments end up producing one consistent journal.

Philippa: the bedroom and the kitchen

Philippa takes most of the questions about sleep, food and teeth. She is the one who reads the small print on a cereal box in the supermarket and keeps a notebook of things people say they "always do" before bed. Her instinct is to start with the habit rather than the theory: what does a real evening look like, and which small change would actually survive a busy week? You will find her voice in answers such as whether reading before bed helps and frozen versus fresh vegetables.

Philippa's rule of thumb: if a suggestion needs special equipment or a new shopping list, it probably needs a simpler version too.

Bastien: movement and the bigger picture

Bastien writes most of the pieces about moving more and many of the broader lifestyle topics, including men's wellbeing and how people talk to health professionals. He came to regular exercise late and remembers clearly how intimidating the first weeks felt, which shapes how he writes about it. His answers tend to ask what happens when things go wrong: a cold in week three, aching legs after a first class, a routine that slips. His piece on working out while still sore is a good example.

Bastien's rule of thumb: the best routine is the one you are still following a month from now.

Why two desks instead of one

Having a second reader changes the writing more than you might expect. When Philippa drafts an answer, Bastien reads it as someone meeting the topic for the first time, and the other way round. The second reader looks for three things in particular:

• sentences that sound more certain than the evidence allows
• jargon that slipped in without an explanation
• advice that would be unsafe to follow without a professional's input

Anything flagged goes back to the writer. More often than not, the fix is to make a sentence humbler, shorter or clearer. The fuller version of this routine is on How We Keep It Honest.

What we are not

We are not clinicians, and we never write as though we were. Neither of us can examine you, check your medicines or tell you what a symptom means for you. When a question needs that kind of answer, we will point you towards the people who can give it: a GP, a pharmacist, a dentist, a practice nurse or, when something is urgent, emergency services.

Where our questions come from

Some arrive by email. Some come from conversations with friends and family. A few come from our own small frustrations, such as a too-warm bedroom on a summer night or a stubborn cold that arrived just as a new walking routine was settling in. If you have one you would like us to think about, the contact page explains how to send it. We cannot answer personal medical questions, but a general question that many people share might well become the next article.