Hong Kong is one of the busiest cities in the world. People work 60 hour work weeks, eat out daily, drink like fish and sleep very little. This stressful lifestyle is a recipe for a shortened healthspan and it is easy to slip into unhealthy habits, so I need to make doubly sure I create as many healthy habits as possible while I am here.
1. MOVE
There is no doubt that I start my day by getting outdoors or hitting the gym. It is so ingrained in me that I go on auto-pilot. I find the one single thing I do every day that gives me the biggest benefit to my health is moving. One day I go to a gym, the next day I may walk an hour in nature. But I do it every single day.
I have tried many fitness clubs in Hong Kong and my favorite so far is Pinnacle Performance in Wan Chai. This is not your ordinary gym with jam packed group classes. Pinnacle offers “group” classes, however, they are based on your own personal goals. Each class holds a warm up and cool down together as a group. The rest of the hour is taken at your own pace following the program that has been tailor made for you. I have never seen anything like this and it is the perfect balance between interacting with others in a group and “leave me alone” to focus on myself.
The moment I walked into this gym I felt like the most important person in the room with their personalized attention. I put every single gym instructor to the test. In other gyms when I mention to the instructors that I have a knee injury, the answer I usually get is, “Ok” or “If something hurts, stop doing it”. At Pinnacle, every single instructor asked me to describe my injury in detail and gave me a personalized set of instructions.
I was blown away by the knowledge, professionalism and expertise of every instructor. And they’re all super friendly! The atmosphere is truly energizing and I really get along with the other clients. It’s like a big happy family. I am also impressed that Pinnacle takes care of educating their clients with health talks, offering their clients healthy meal services and making massage and self care a part of their program. In my book, Pinnacle Performance gets a 10 out of 10 for best gyms in Hong Kong and one of my favorite places to start my health journey for the day.
2. EAT
The next habit I have created for myself in Hong Kong is to stock my fridge full of healthy food. I buy my organic produce online at HonestBee.com, but I get all my non-perishables (and some fresh produce) at SpiceBox Organics in Central or in Kennedy Town. As a digital nomad I move from AirBnB to AirBnB where I need to have a supply of lemons, fruit, vegetables, quinoa, collagen powders and teas. When I am in Hong Kong I go directly to SpiceBox not only because they have pretty much everything I am looking for in one place, but the people who work there are so nice! I can order their products online, but I just love popping in there to say hello and for an excuse to eat their cashew cheesecake.
Everything in SpiceBox is organic and I trust their quality. If they don’t have something I am looking for they will order it for me. Recently I found out that they are making their own organic tempeh! Tempeh is made by natural culturing and fermenting soybeans, then binding them into a cake form. In Hong Kong I don’t know of anywhere else where I can buy organic tempeh at a reasonable price. Try this lemon pepper tempeh recipe to see if you like it.
3. RELAX & BEAUTIFY
It’s so hard to keep my list of favorite places to stay healthy in Hong Kong to just three, but if I have to choose one more, then it is the Emmanuel F eco-luxury salon and spa. I have been getting my hair and beauty treatments here for many years and am impressed by their dedication to sustainability and health in everything they do. They use recyclable paper, organic cotton towels, eco cleaning products, toxin-free paint & glue, offer a wash instead of waste concept and natural organic refreshments.
The salon owner Emmanuel Faipoux had his own health scare and battle with cancer to motivate him to keep their products and environment organic and chemical free to protect himself, his staff and his clients. The moment I step into this salon I can immediately feel my cortisol (stress hormone) levels drop. When I treat my hair I completely relax looking at their star studded ceiling of calming lights during the shampoo. After a massage, I come out feeling totally blissful and like I just gained 10 years of my life back. And I always learn some youth preserving tips from their aestheticians, like these!
I wish I could say this is a sponsored post, but it isn’t. I truly love each of these places and can highly recommend them from my 4+ years of experiences in Hong Kong. Hopefully they will all still be there by the time your read this article.
Enjoy your stay in Hong Kong and connect with me on Facebook, Instagram or email for more health tips in this bustling metropolis!