I am in my 40's and the best advice I got when I wanted to lose the 40 pounds that I put on while pregnant was this. Don't worry about what you eat, or change it for the first week - start by taking a brisk walk for 45 minutes each day for 7 days. Difficult, at first, if you are out of shape, but a great motivator! As I walked, I used that time to think about what to start next - in Week two, I kept the 45 minutes of brisk walking and started to limit my calories to 1500 a day. It did not matter what I chose to eat, but I could not go past 1500. In week three, I started to look seriously at my food groups and choices. I forced myself to drink 8 glasses of water each day and had 3 servings of fruit and 3 of veggies. This is how I got started, I started losing, and learning about good nutrition. Lost the weight and learned to love the 45 minutes a day of a cardio workout.
PS - Count the cals in the wine, too.
Good luck to her.
Laura