Will a Balanced Diet Help me Lose Weight?

Hello! I’m a 19 year old woman who recently decided I want to commit to a healthy diet.

Up until two days ago, I’ve put close to nothing but junk in my body. On a normal day, I’d eat fast food AT LEAST once, if not twice. For dinner, I could finish a whole family size bag of potato chips on my own, along with my 2 taco bell 5 layer burritos with extra nacho cheese, along with a creamy jalapeño quesadilla, and to top it all off, a large Dr. Pepper; and I won’t even go into my other daily meals, or how much I snacked on the weekends.

My boyfriend and I took a trip down to Sproutz 2 days ago and bought fruit, veggies, and tons of whole foods. We are trying to go at least a month without fast food, as we both have the same diet problem. Also, we are doing a run around our neighborhood every other day, and plan to exercise more once we get used to cardio.

So my question is, will this help me lose weight? I fear I may have to commit to calorie counting, or a set diet in order to shed pounds. I’m 5’4 and 165, making me overweight, according to my BMI. From my pictures below, you can see that I definitely have some fat I could lose. I’m looking to lose 20-35 pounds. An important note is that I am very self conscious of my body. It has taken a toll on my mental health; it’s gotten to where that’s all I can think about. I am a complete newbie and I need honest answers from experienced people.