Destination Guide: Los Angeles
Of all the U.S. cities, L.A. may be the one most geared to healthy living. So pack your bags and enjoy; with these insider tips you won't pack on the pounds!
Article By: Pauline Frommer
Welcome to the Good Life
A trip to Los Angeles is immensely rewarding. The swaying palm trees, the miles of beaches, the emphasis on arts and culture, the vitality of the strivers who live here — few places are at once as dynamic, and have so much of the “good life” to offer visitors.
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright once said of Los Angeles “Tip the world over on its side and everything loose will land in Los Angeles.” What he meant by that was that this is a city welcomes those who might be considered, well, loose canons in other communities. In the “Entertainment Capital of the World” creativity is the norm, and one can see it on display not only during visits to film studios and live TV tapings, but in Los Angeles’ thriving art scene, in its chic and unusual boutiques, its inventive restaurants, even in the wacky outfits people choose to wear when strolling on the Venice boardwalk (that’s for you, Mr. Cat-On-His-Head).
Wright had it right: people from all over the world are “tipped out” here. The city has the largest Mexican and Korean population of any city in the world, outside of those in Mexico and Korea. Wander into local stores and you’ll meet residents from all corners of the globe: Japan, the Philippines, China, Guatemala, Bangladesh, Armenia, Peru, you name it. In fact, 35% of the city’s population is foreign born, according to the most recent census
It’s also a massive city of 467 square miles, housing the second-largest urban population in the US (after New York City). Its sprawl and its snaking highways are legendary. Los Angeles doesn’t have one real center, and many of its highlights are set far apart. So plan your days carefully – it won’t feel like a vacation if you spend all your time stuck in traffic jams! Make a list in advance of what you hope to see and do, and then plot those attractions on a map, grouping nearby sights together for a day’s excursion.
And don't feel like you need to give up on the lifestyle you've perfected at home. It's true, we Weight Watchers members have different needs from other travelers. We try to find restaurants where we’ll have choices (many of them!) and not just limitations. And we make exercise part of our daily lives, even when we’re on the road.
This article was written with those requirements in mind. All of the restaurants included prepare healthy, non-processed foods and are adept at taking special requests. They specialize in lighter food but don’t scrimp on flavor. Every hotel profiled has a more-than-decent gym in it, and many supply their guests with fridges (great for storing veggies, fruits and other snacks low in PointsPlus values ®). And in the section on sightseeing, we’ve listed the attractions that will get your heart racing—both figuratively and literally. Enjoy!