The Fitness Industry Lied to you About Calories..
In this 30‑minute monologue, Lucas Wilhelm Hedenbäck dismantles the conventional "calories in vs calories out" paradigm, arguing that it is an oversimplified lie for anyone seeking an elite physique without spending excessive time in the gym. He explains that calories are merely a unit of heat measured in a lab, not a direct indicator of how the body absorbs, stores, or burns energy. The video emphasizes that food quality, digestion, bioavailability, hormonal responses, and especially the state of the nervous system (sympathetic vs parasympathetic) dictate the true metabolic outcome. Lucas contrasts 3,000 calories of processed pizza with 3,000 calories of grass‑fed beef, organic roots, and fermented foods, showing how the latter produce vastly different hormonal and inflammatory responses. He debunks the post‑workout "anabolic window" myth, stating that eating while the body is still in a fight‑or‑flight state impairs nutrient absorption. Practical protocols are offered: pre‑meal grounding or nasal breathwork, avoiding multitasking while eating, using bitters or apple cider vinegar to stimulate stomach acid, consuming large amounts of fermented foods, timing meals to allow a parasympathetic state, and limiting late‑night eating. Lucas shares multiple client case studies (Thomas, Landon, Cooper, Rasmus, Leo, Javier, etc.) who transformed their bodies within 90‑120 days after fixing stress, sleep, and digestion, despite already training for years. The target audience is busy, already‑lean men who want to look like the top 1 % without counting calories or spending 5‑6 days a week in the gym. The video ends with a call‑to‑action for one‑to‑one coaching.
Chapters
Calories in versus calories out is the biggest bullshit lie that you've been sold. Why? It's because your body is not a spreadsheet. It's a biological system that responds to signals and inputs. Food quality matters, digestion matters, your nervous system state matters, timing matters. It requires a lot of context. And if you assume that one calorie always would be one calorie, well, you will not go far. And in this video, I'm going to break down exactly why more in detail and exactly what you should be doing in order to optimize this area and get a better understanding. And if you're new to the channel, welcome. My name is Lucas. Over the last years, I've dedicated all my time to dialing in and figuring everything regarding health, performance, aesthetics, vitality, and hormones out. And all we do on this channel is pass down— or I'm passing down those, those lessons If your only goal is to just shred off some weight because you're very, very overweight or whatever, this advice most likely is not going to suit you. I'm talking to the guy that is very, very busy, that don't want to spend 5 to 6 days of his week in the gym for 1 hour plus, tracking every single thing that he puts into his body, and absolutely hate and suffer in his life in order to get in shape. No, getting in shape should be on autopilot. If we do the right inputs, it's very, very effortless and easy. But We have to set one thing very, very straight is here: you're more likely to become a millionaire than you are to get a six-pack. So don't take this as any sort of health advice, whatever. I'm just sharing lessons. You do what you want with this information. Let's dive in. Also, just to tell you a bit more about how I used to do things back in the days when I started training, I used to count every single calorie for the first two years of my lifting career. I had not missed a day on MyFitnessPal. I had this 2-year streak on the app. I got like this reward. Ah, you've logged every single thing for 2 years. And the results? Minimal, average. How can this be? I'm doing everything right. I'm having the perfect macro split according to what this bodybuilder that I found online said that I should be having, the perfect split of protein, Fats and carbs, and I'm carb cycling, and I'm doing this and that, but I'm not seeing any results. It's because I fail to understand all the other things. This right now is me also viewing this like you know calories are bullshit. It's not the full picture. So I'm going to take you through all my lessons and explain exactly how I went from this to this and the mindset shift and. Why I want to do this is because on my last reel I got a bunch of comments, or on one of my last reels regarding this, I got so many comments. Anyone who says macros, calories, don't know, don't care, don't trust him or her. Simply logic: energy in, energy out. Once again, yes, thermodynamics matter, but I'm not talking to you if you weigh 300 pounds and you want to go down in weight. I'm talking to the guy that already is in pretty good shape, that has been working out for a good amount of years, that wants to Not look average. You want to look like the top one percent. That's who I'm talking to. If your only goal is to lose some weight, you can click off this video. That's one thing we have to set very very straight. So let's dive into it. The calorie model assumes one thing: that the body treats all calories the same, and this is one of the biggest problems. Three thousand calories is three thousand calories, right? Here's the problem: a calorie is a unit of heat. Measured by burning food in a lab. Your body is not a lab. It doesn't burn food. It digests it. It absorbs it. It signals with it, and it reacts to it. So when people say just eat less and move more, they ignore everything that actually determines what happens after the food enters your body. 3,000 calories versus 3,000 calories. Let's make a bit of a comparison here. So 3,000 calories of pizza, processed food, seed oils, McDonald's, versus 3,000 calories of grass-fed beef, organic local roots, sauerkraut, fruit, raw local honey, milk, the best of the best quality food. On paper, it's exactly the same calories, maybe even exactly the same macros, right? In your body, completely different outcomes. Why? Because of digestion, absorption rate, thermic effect of food, hormonal response, inflammatory load, micronutrient density, mitochondrial activation. Right? So calories don't tell you what gets absorbed. They don't tell you what gets stored. They don't tell you what gets burned. I have so many cases where clients have been coming to me and they've been saying, you know, I've been trying to count calories and doing all these things, but they're not seeing any results even though they're in a deficit because they fail to understand the full picture. They're constantly stressed. They're running a business. They're constantly in a sympathetic nervous system state. It doesn't matter How little or how much calories you're eating, you're not going to absorb any of it. You're not going to put it any to any use at all. And that was one of the problems for me here. Like I was just eating, assuming that that's the only thing that matters. Slamming down a protein shake right after the after the workout because I thought that yeah, I have to hit this anabolic window or whatever bullshit they tell you. Oh, I have to get some protein in. The problem is that right after training, this is literally one of the most stupid thing stupid things you can do, and I'm going to explain exactly why. If you're slamming down a protein shake or a big meal straight after you've been lifting, you're still activated, you're still like stressed, your body is switched on, you're not gonna absorb anything of that because the last thing your body's gonna prioritize is digestion when you are quote unquote stressed. So one of the biggest hacks you can do is instead of viewing this anabolic window, which is just bullshit, is actually take some time to rest, to calm down, go out for a short little walk, calm your body down so you're in a parasympathetic nervous system state, and then you can actually digest the food. Because your food, food does not get absorbed in a fight-or-flight state. It only gets absorbed in rest and digest. That's one of the first things that you have to understand. That's why You can eat the best of the best food, the highest quality grass-fed meat, all these things. But if you're constantly eating stressed, and this is the case for multiple of my clients when they come, that can still cause gut dysbiosis, leaky gut, inflammation, which leads to— or chronic inflammation, which leads to fucked up hormones, all these things. Even if you're eating the best of the best grass-fed beef, the best of the best raw local honey, whatever it might be, that That food, if your system is not optimized, can still be very, very dangerous and cause problems. So bioavailability matters as well. A calorie from a protein shake is not the same as a calorie from a grass-fed steak. Why? Because food is not just macros. Real food comes with minerals, fat-soluble vitamins, enzymes, cofactors, and a natural food matrix your body recognizes. A steak doesn't just provide protein; it provides signals—signals that tells your body. To build muscle, support hormones, increase metabolic output. A powder is isolated. Your body has to work harder to figure out what to do with it, and that changes the entire equation. It's the same thing with sugar. If we talk processed table sugar, and then we compare that to fruit, well, fruit is not bad, but it's sugar in fruit as well. Why is the processed table sugar bad then if if it's the same thing in the fruit? Well. It's because in isolation you don't get it, you don't deliver it packaged with all the other things, right? So I argue that a protein powder compared to a steak is exactly the same thing as isolated sugar compared to fruit, right? Packaged, it's good, your body understands what it is. Fruit, it comes with minerals, vitamins, enzymes, all these things. Isolated table sugar Well, that becomes very problematic because it doesn't come with all those other things. Same thing here. Protein powder. The people arguing that it's easier for your body to digest it when it's isolated is absolutely bullshit. It takes everything we know and just throws it away. All these things, it has to be delivered in a package. Minerals, fat-soluble vitamins, enzymes, cofactors. That's what's gonna determine the outcome in your body. Digestion matters. You only digest food properly in a presence of a fatty state, as I said. That means calm, present, relaxed. And let's be honest, most people nowadays, they eat whilst they're standing up, phone in hand, during meetings, between meetings, when you have a 5-minute, 5-minute pause, whilst driving under blue light, which is also causing oxidative stress, and while stressed, right? Some of you are probably eating whilst you're watching this video, which you absolutely shouldn't. When you eat stress, Stressed blood is diverted away from the gut. Stomach acid production drops, enzyme production drops as well, and food breaks down poorly. Once again, you can eat the best of the best food, the grass-fed beef, all these things, it can still cause toxicity. So even the best of the best quality food can become a big problem. If you're chronically eating in fight or flight, that's gonna lead to bloating, reflux, undigested food, dysbiosis, leaky gut, chronic inflammation, and downstream that leads to poor nutrient absorption. Absorption, hormonal disruption, decreased testosterone, brain fog, fat gain. So you can end up with people saying, "I eat clean, but I feel terrible," and that's the case for so many many of my clients. I can take a few examples here. Thomas, when he came to me, had been working out for 15 years. He's 40, eating clean, doing everything right, but constantly stressed. Right? Fixing that, fixing his nervous system, and managing his stress. 90 days later, boom. It's the same thing with Landon. Landon had been working out for 10 years, business owner from the US, not prioritizing his sleep. The main focus point we took was, okay, let's fix your stress levels, let's fix your sleep, let's fix all these things, and let's fix your digestion. Boom, 120 days later, absolutely shredded. Same thing with Cooper as well, a business owner, bloated, inflamed, eating the grass-fed beef and the best of the best food, all the things, Doing everything right on paper here. Ninety days later, shredded. This is mainly to fixing all these things. It's mainly to fixing digestion, to fixing your system so it actually functions properly. Then we can start providing the right inputs in in regards to training and food, and you'll actually get results. But if you do all the right inputs, but your system is not Well, nothing is gonna happen. You're probably just gonna cause problems, right? Super important to understand. It's not a calorie problem, it's a digestion and nervous system problem. If you're not digesting your food, your protein isn't building any muscle, your carbs aren't fueling performance, your fats aren't supporting your hormones. You're creating functional malnutrition even with the best of the best food, right? Not because you're eating poorly, but because you're absorbing poorly. You can eat 3,000 calories of Pristine food and still be unnourished, inflamed, exhausted. That's the flaw in calories in, calories out. It requires context. If you're not digesting your food, your protein isn't building muscle, right? Here are some signs that you're not absorbing the food properly then as well: bloating and gas after meals, fatigue post-meal, blood sugar crash, undigested food in your stool, chronic inflammation or joint pain. Skin breaks out or dullness. Low morning energy despite eating enough. Slow recovery. Cravings despite eating enough. Sugar cravings. Brain fog after meals. Fat gain despite clean eating. Low energy after eating. These are not discipline issues; they are digestive signaling issues. So what you should do? What should you do then? Well, here's exactly what I think you should be doing. If you're a busy guy, stressed, you should be doing some pre-meal grounding or nasal breathwork if possible. Calm down, do everything in your power to take yourself out of sympathetic nervous system state to a parasympathetic nervous system state. You know, look at the religion. I think there's a reason why everyone always, you know, you're doing the prayer before eating. There we have it. That's literally all the information you need. What happens then when you take yourself out of a sympathetic to a parasympathetic state? You calm down. Post-workout, if you're eating directly after, go for a short little walk to calm yourself down before just slamming down the food. Avoid any sort of tech or multitasking during the meal. When you eat, you should be eating. You can use bitters or apple cider vinegar to trigger stomach acid. Sauerkraut maxing— make sure you're eating a shit ton of fermented stuff with your food because that's going to help absorption. It's going to help you to actually digest the food better. So sauerkraut or raw kefir, even if you don't Don't want that on the plate. I always, you know, just take a spoon of sauerkraut before starting eating my food, even if I don't have it laid out on the plate. Super simple. You have to eliminate all sorts of CDOs and processed stuff and industrial wheat. Parasympathetic evening wind down. You want a digestive reset in the evening as well. So, you know, don't eat for the last two three hours before going to bed to give your digestive system some rest. Eat outside in the sun if possible. The best of the best thing would literally be to eat outside in the sun, grounded. Before, or having done a bit of a breathwork session before with some sauerkraut on the plate, and then boom, that's literally the perfect meal setup. And what you have to understand is this: the ROI you will get out of dialing this in is absolutely night and day difference. Oh, I don't have time to do these things or whatever. Okay, you're not gonna— you're always gonna get average results. You're gonna keep looking bloated. You're gonna keep not looking absolutely like the top 1% does. It's all about the inputs and understanding that all these things is going to lead to you, you know, being more productive, having less brain fog. So even if you lose time in the short term, it's going to gain you energy performance in the long term. So you have to shift your focus there as well, because you can train like a savage, eat like a king, and still look and feel like garbage if your nervous system is locked in fight or flight whilst you're eating, right? Once again, this is the case for so many of my clients when they come to me. It's the same for all of this as well. Rasmus had been training for a shit ton of time as well. Bloated, holding on to water retention, fixing all these things, calming down the nervous system. Boom! Absolutely shredded. Same thing with Leo. He was sitting drinking the protein powders after the workouts. Bloated, inflamed, cutting everything out, dialing it in. Boom! Looking like an absolute stud. 90 days later, Javier looking like we're about to pop up a pop out a baby in a few months and then boom. Nick, Tonda, Joel, Mert, and then Cooper, Landon, Thomas. It's exactly the same thing for these guys. They were all— they had already been training for a good amount of time. They're already putting in the work in the gym. They're already eating and doing these things, and, and they think they're doing everything right on paper, but something is not clicking, right? And that is going to be the secret to understand how to get from this to this. It's all about being religious with all these small inputs. Average with the inputs. Well, you'll look like this. I mean, don't get me wrong. I I've built some muscles, but this is far from from where I want to be, right? This is very very average. You know, sure, look good. To be honest, I don't I don't really think so. This is what we're after, right? I want to look like a freak. Without having to be 5 to 6 days in the gym and without having to count calories and just intuitively run around 2 to 3 workouts per week eating whatever I want. And that's exactly what I do. And that's because I understand that if I shift my focus and optimize my system, my operating system, a good physique will come as a byproduct. Because a good physique will always come as a byproduct from you being truly healthy from the inside. I say it in every single video, and that's simply the truth. So hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions on the topic. And if you're looking for one-to-one coaching direct from me, you can check out the first link in the description, book in a call with me or my team where we can just get an understanding of your situation, present how that would look, how it works to— or how it looks to work with me one-to-one. And we'll take it from there. We'll find a solution and we'll get you absolutely diced without having to suffer, without having to spend 5 to 6 days in the gym and hating your life. Thanks for watching. I'll see you in the next one and ciao.
