Since the second week of June, I have cut my weight by over 15 lbs.  I did this with NO exercise.  During the first week of June I had an emergency appendectomy which prevented me from exercising for a month.  The weight loss was done on pure diet alone.  My diet consisted of:

Breakfast:

A protein shake every morning (1 cup 1% organic milk, 1 tablespoon of flaxseed oil, 1 tablespoon of amino acids, 1 scoop of protein powder, and 1 serving of mixed fruit which always included blueberries)

Mid-Morning Snack:

A serving of fruit

Lunch:

A serving of protein (turkey, chicken, or lean steak), a generous amount of vegetables, and a serving of brown rice that was cooked using my own spices (this eliminated all the sodium and other junk that is in pre-flavored rice).

Mid-Afternoon Snack:

A serving of fruit and dairy (yogurt, cottage cheese, or Polly-o string cheese)

Dinner:

A serving of protein (turkey, chicken, or lean steak) and a generous serving of vegetables

So as you can see I kept away from carbs in the evening and kept a high protein diet to maintain as much lean muscle as possible while burning as much fat as possible.  The basic principle = eat less calories than I burn to create a calorie deficit and do it clean (as healthy as possible).  I did have ONE cheat day a week every Friday where I indulged whatever I wanted.  However, I do this through ordering in.  My apartment is 100% bare of any unhealthy food.

I have just recently begun exercising again but won’t be back to a definite routine until a week and a half from now after I take the New York Bar Exam.

I plan on cutting down maybe another 15 lbs or whenever I naturally stop losing weight from my current diet.  When my body fat gets low enough I will then do a clean bulk to add about 10 lbs of muscle.

Edit: By the way, I failed to mention my current weight to put things into context: 199.4

I would rather be extremely intelligent and average looking.

If I was a woman this question would be more difficult.

Women do not base attraction on physical appearance to the extent that men do.

An attractive woman can very easily be attracted to an average looking (not ugly, but average looking) man if he is charming, finds his personality appealing, and enjoys spending time with him.

A woman may be more receptive at the very beginning to an attractive man (or to use the question's term, beautiful), but after that point he is on an equal playing field with every other guy and if he is dumb, chances are he is actually at a significant disadvantage.

In regards to other aspects of life, being intelligent is a much more a valuable and durable tool to be equipped with than very good looks. 

So in the end I choose extremely intelligent and average looking over beautiful and dumb.

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