I love Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Loss plan. I lost 42 lbs while sticking as close as possible to the plan. As Honeybee213 mentioned, it has really helped to look at the emotional reasons why you eat and start to understand yourself and your eating habits better.
I have not regained all the weight and have been "maintaining" for the last 2.5 months. Things have been so busy around here that I haven't had a lot of time to devote to my weight loss (have about 40 left to go), so I have taken a bit of a break so to speak.
That said. Dr. Phil's book has helped me to realize that this is not a race. It has also taught me the basics which stick in the back of my mind all the time so that when things are still hectic I can realize with little effort what I need to do to keep the weight from piling back on. I mean I still try to get in a fairly balanced breakfast everyday and try to eat more small meals and lighter meals rather than a few big heavy ones.
Probably the one thing that I enjoy the benefit of most, is the fact that I have learned alot about myself and my habits so it is so much easier to recognize where I could potentially slip. An example. I used to stay up until the early morning hours before beginning the program, but learned that decent sleep is key to weight loss. When I began going to bed at 10pm, I realized the how much better I felt and how much easier it was to lose weight. Now lately, I have been back up late due to some unexpected deadlines, but in the back of my mind I keep hearing Dr. Phil's comments on rest and I recognize that I am not feeling up to par and that this is a potential "slip zone". This is so important because I know now that I need to rework a few things in order to get back to an early bedtime. These are the types of things that help me maintain.
I struggled for years to lose, but it wasn't until Dr. Phil that I really started to lose and have learned enough to keep it off.
I agree with Honeybee213, your friend should check out different books to see what will work best for her. Much of the advice that Dr. Phil gives is common sense, but he does teach you how to apply it. Your friend should also check out Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Loss Cookbook. There a two weeks of planned meals that will help her to get started along with some other recipes. They are amazing and nutritious.
Good luck.
