Actually, quite the opposite is true for me and almost anyone else I've met - just cardio & dieting has been the only thing that worked for me period in getting rid of fat and just getting in great shape, and this was when I was conditioned enough to solicit interest in Division 1 tennis. It was intense though, where I would generally run 2-4 miles a day & play tennis, on occasion running more (two times of ~7-8 miles), and this being after spending a season of intense running & almost exclusively eating bagels & pasta from track. I've tried the mostly lifting program accompanied with some cardio combined with dieting for an extended period of time and ended up with a wash on weight, and marginal improvement in conditioning. You're probably the only person I know who does not embrace this approach, and it's quite the opposite of what most athletes will tell you.
Nothing else I've seen or done has come anywhere near as close - at the very least, I know that intense cardio must be at the core of successful weight loss. If one pursues this route and does not want to diminish the mind, I'm inclined to think it must be complimented with a high carbohydrate diet to keep the weight loss at a healthy amount.