Done correctly, cardio exercise can be an extremely effective tool to living life lean. But that certainly doesn’t mean you have to engage in hours upon hours of mindless and unproductive sessions like so many people do… But check this out: I recently read one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. And trust me that says a lot, because I’ve read LOTS of books! It’s called “Ultra-Marathon Man” by Dean Karnazes. Now as I said, you don’t need to do hours and hours of cardio to live life lean, yet this book tells an incredible story about what LIVING life is all about… See, at 30 years old Dean Karnazes hadn’t run in over 15 years. He had an all around successful life living in beautiful SanFrancisco: happy marriage, two children, nice home, great career, financially successful, luxury car…etc, etc
But on his 30th birthday Dean felt an emptiness inside. He felt like something was missing in his life… He wasn’t TRULY satisfied with his life… So after he went out on his 30th birthday and had one too many drinks in downtown San Francisco, he came home just past midnight, and right before he went inside he decided he wanted to go on a run, even though he was slightly intoxicated! He went around back and grabbed a pair of beat up sneakers he used to work in the garden. And he didn’t want to disturb his wife, (who had gone home earlier that night) so instead of going inside to grab a pair of shorts, he just took off his pants and set off on his run in an undershirt and a loose fitting pair of boxers! Well, that night Dean ended up running all night long. In fact, he ended up running 30 miles! He had to call his wife the next morning to pick him up from a gas station. You can imagine her surprise when he told her he was 30 miles away! And you also can imagine the look on her face when she picked him up and saw what he was wearing! And there are some other funny details about this story that I won’t go into here… This guy is really something else. And don’t worry, I didn’t ruin the book for you. Not even close! That is actually just the beginning… The book is filled with interesting and inspiring stories that challenge anyone to really evaluate whether or not they are experiencing true growth in their life. My guess however, is that you’re not really interested in being an Ultra-Marathon Runner. In fact, you’re probably not even interested in being a marathon runner… But that isn’t the point. Actually, you don’t have to run a marathon to live life lean. Come to think of it… you don’t have to run at all! You may even have noticed there are plenty of people who routinely run marathons, but are still overweight! So this isn’t the point… But let me ask you, are making an effort to make PROGRESS each and every day? Are you experiencing consistent GROWTH? During your cardio sessions, are you improving your time by at least one second? Are you becoming physically stonger day by day? Do you even know? Yes, living life to the FULLEST means loving this very moment. It means being grateful for everything you have in your life, but it also means GROWTH. And when you stop growing, you start DYING. And in terms of health and fitness, growth and living life lean go hand and hand… You don’t need to go out and run thirty miles to experience exhilarating personal growth in your life. You just need to breakthrough YOUR comfort zone, and enjoy yourself in the process. THAT is what “personal victory” is all about my friend…

Is it possible to buy a new body? Well, as the author and speaker Jim Rohn says, “No one can do your push-ups for you.” And whenever someone tries to “buy” results, this is, in essence, exactly what they are trying to do. It just isn’t possible. Now if you’ve seen any advertising for some of the products out there then you could definitely get sucked into this myth, couldn’t you? The weight loss industry is a billion dollar industry and millions of advertising dollars are spent each year trying to convince you otherwise. Many of the minds behind these advertising campaigns are very intelligent and they know exactly how to appeal to our fantasies.
Many of these advertisements make getting a new body as easy as “buying a new car” or “going to the mall for a new pair of shoes.” This is exactly why so many of these products are so successful. But what about the people who purchase them? Now that’s an entirely different story. I’m not saying that all products are a complete waste of money. I’m definitely not. In fact many of the products out there can definitely help you achieve your goals. HELP being the key word. If you think that a piece of fitness equipment or a supplement is going to offer you some sort of value, then go ahead and give it a shot. And if it helps you get results and makes the process of losing weight easier or more enjoyable, then I’m all for it! Just understand that whatever you’re buying isn’t the answer… YOU are. Let me be crystal clear here: you can not buy anything that is going to make you lose weight or transform your body without any change to your lifestyle. Health and the process of living life lean is a lifestyle, not something you can buy. The good news is that if you use the most powerful principles to lose fat, then the investment to live life lean is relatively small, yet the returns are MASSIVE…