Hi Shirley from Houston,
noticed no one had responded so thought I would. Guess its hard to recommend diet / exercise plans for someone as there is no real one size fits all solution.
My advice for your friend is to start by doing many little changes. In that way there is less resistance to introducing them. For example make a list of favorite foods and find healthier versions rather than looking to cut things out. Yes there really are healthy chocolate cake recipes out there

If your choice is between a 600 calorie piece of cake and a salad, unless you have some motivating health problem to force the issue, is always going to be difficult. Make it a choice between a 600 cal cake and a 250 cal cake is less a challenge. Its the long term effect that counts same with exercise.
Look for local social exercise clubs. I am fortunate and live in a quiet area with lots of nearby woodlands and canals so we have a lot of walking clubs. Is a great thing for getting family involved in. Becoming part of a group means you are more likely to stick with the activity. If time is an issue look for small ways to incorporate exercise. I try to go for a short walk on my lunch break at work. Stick some funky music on while doing household chores and boogie about etc These wont give a fast weight loss but over time they are easy way forward and a good starting point.
In terms of fast diets I've not tried the clubs but there are plenty post on the board detailing what to expect. Pretty much every diet works for someone somewhere guess its just what people can stick with. One major caution is to be careful of any diet where you make radical changes then at some point go back to 'normal eating'. Peoples weight is appropriate for the food they eat and lifestyle they live and without changing these a lot of people regain any weight lost.