Keeping East Brunswick Healthy, One Meal at a Time

Dr. Kenneth Freedman wanted a lifestyle change. A chiropractor for 30-plus years, he was looking to return to his practice after taking time off for a knee replacement. The catch was that he was overweight, which would make healing from the surgery difficult.

“I was getting back into practice again and I didn’t want to carry the extra weight on my body, because for every extra pound on you there’s eight pounds of stress on the knee and four pounds on the lower back. There’s an extra mile of blood vessels for every pound of fat,” said Dr. Freedman, of Freedman Chiropractic.

Enter the ChiroThin Weight Loss Plan, a diet Dr. Freedman offers at his practice and a version of which is now available at local restaurants.

“I said, ‘you know what, physician heal thyself.’ I’ve gotta take care of me in order to take care of other people and to take care of my family,” said Dr. Freedman.

Once he began the diet, Dr. Freedman lost close to 30 pounds by eating what he called “real food,” and he has worked with restaurants so that they can create their own dishes and menus. called the Lite Side. While the ChiroThin diet offered at his office requires patients take a solution called HCG, the one offered in local eateries is simply a variety of healthy dishes created by local chefs and restraurants under Dr. Freedman’s guidance.

“They’re wholesome foods that are nutritionally balanced, low in calories, low in fat and low in sugar and carbs,” said Dr. Freedman. “And for people who are stymied with all choices available, especially on Route 18, to be able to bring their children out for a low fat healthy meal, these are great alternatives. Even if you’re not on a diet, you can go out and eat a reasonable portion that is very healthy and your children can be able to enjoy it too.”

Spiro Hadjiyerou, owner of the , said he was skeptical at first, but quickly came around once he saw how successful it was. The restaurant is now on it’s second version of the menu.

“We wanted to let people know that it’s a healthier way of eating, because we’re not putting butter or gravies and sauces on it, it’s all healthier to eat,” said Hadjiyerou. “So he talked me into doing his diet because it was unique and thought, ‘OK, if people don’t want to do his diet it’s still a Weight Watchers type of diet and it’s under 300 calories.”

I fact, all of the meals on Freedman’s “Lite Side” diet are under 300 calories, regardless of which restaurant you get them at and Colonial sells between 100 and 150 items a week. Colonial Diner offers about eight items now, with options to mix and match items.

“We’re excited about it because it falls under different categories as well. If you’re cutting carbs, there are low carb options. We have eight choices, but a few of the choices allow you to choose between grilled chicken or shrimp or steak,” he said. “The biggest sellers are the grilled balsamic chicken, which is really nice, the four ounce lite sirloin steak and the garlic shrimp, skewered garlic shrimp. We also have a Mahi Mahi that sells well and grilled tilapia that sells well.”

Dr. Freedman said he approached local restaurants to offer his menu because he wanted to give shoppers a healthy choice, which is hard when looking for someplace to eat in an area that offers everything from Chinese to Italian to diner specialties, but with no clear-cut healthy options.

“When I was doing the diet program it was hard for me to eat out,” he said. “Where would I go? When I was home it was easy, or if I went out I’d have to explain everything to the server, I need 4 ounces of that, etc. So I thought, how great would it be if I could work with chefs at certain restaurants and we could create meals so that not only I, but other people who are on this program would be able to go out if they wanted to eat out and not have to go through what I had to go through—weighing food and explaining everything.”

The diet isn’t’ just a series of low fat healthy meals, however. Those who order the diet are often given an explanation of its benefits as well. Dr. Freedman said the meal plan is a low glycemic, and low inflammatory diet that is low in sugar, fat and carbs.

“If you ask for it the first time, the staff knows to explain it to people,” said  Hadjiyerou. "We tell them that the grilled Mahi Mahi is just plain grilled fish. Nothing is added to it.”

The ChiroThin diet is availalable at a variety of restaurants in East Brunswick, including , which offers grilled chicken or shrimp with steamed veggies, grilled portobello mushrooms, grilled squash zucchini and bell peppers with a garden salad and turnkey with a garden salad, amonth others, for $9.96.

If you like Chinese food, then head to where Chef Suet Chang has created entrees ranging from $13 to $15 and include steamed shrimp with mixed vegetables, slow-cooked Shiitake-beef vegetables with Nappa cabbage, grilled scallops or lobster tail with steamed veggies with szechuan pepper corn, broiled tilapia and braised seafood with mixed vegetables inginger miso broth.

If you like Indian food, head to for charcoal clay oven specialties, curry specialties and vegetarian specialties all for $9.95 each. Chef Gurpinder Singh Noor offeers chicken tikka, tandoori chicken, seekh kabab, chicken, shrimp or fish curry and vegetarian Palak panir and gobi panir.

At , Executive Chef Richard Sloan has created a variety of dishes for $15 incuidng pan seared tilapia withi pico de gallo, grilled shrim, and chicken and a variety of vegetable dishes.

At , you can select from a variety of soups and salads, and entrees starting at $20, incuding New York strip steak with braised cabbage, grilled onions and portobello mushrooms, chicken burger with grilled portobello mushrooms, citrus marinated mahi mahi, shrimp and chicken.