I disagree. I think you can look and feel better by that time. You are not "that" bad. 5'5" and 143 pounds... you're close, my friend.
I would not start with a lot of cardio and gradually add in light weights. To the contrary... I would start with a full body weight routine immediately. I would start with cardio as well.
Then get yourself on a real nutrition program. Skipping lunch is not a good thing. This is hurting you more than helping you. I post these guidelines for people looking to lose body fat. After all if you want to lose body fat in your stomach... you must work on reducing it all over your body because we cannot spot reduce. Oh and you can do 1000 crunches a day and this will NOT affect the fat around your belly. Crunches and ab exercises work the ab muscles. It strengthens the ab muscles. They do not reduce fat in the ab area.
Here are 5 tips for overall fat loss:
1) Eat 5-6 small meals throughout the day. Each meal should be 2-3 hours apart. Each meal should contain one protein and one carb. The first meal should be eaten within an hour after waking.
2) Drink lots of water
3) Rest properly. This means taking at least 24-48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and it also means getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Lastly, it means taking 1-2 days off from exercising per week.
4) Cardio. This should be done at different intensity levels and different session lengths. Consider doing a low intensity/long session, a high intensity/short session and a few medium intensity/medium length sessions.
5) Strength Training. Strength train each muscle 1-3 times per week. You should lift a proper weight and perform the proper amount of sets/reps for your strength training method.
All of the above things combined will result in fat loss. You can do this within a few months. You can see results but you have to get started today. And you have to participate in cardio, strength training and nutrition. By the way... sex definitely counts as cardio
