First, have her indulge in strict paleo for a month or so before starting to workout. This will really help with excess weight and she will have more energy which will translate into her WANTING to workout. Never try to force someone to do it, the desire they have will be much more powerful than artificial outside encouragement.
After a month or so on the paleo lifestyle... start a routine.
Do NOT run her hard on some Super High Intensity Training (abbreviation is S.H.I.T. for a reason). Eventually on this type of training a few times a week you will see immune system crashes. Use the K.I.S.S principle when getting people started on a training regimen.
Bodybuilding builds muscle through hypertrophy aka water ballooning and doesn’t really produce much strength for the size. Strength training creates dense muscle through hyperplasia, which means the muscle fiber splits into two bundles and overlaps itself like plywood. Think Olympic lifter (strength training) vs. bodybuilder, even the smallest Olympic lifter could lift more than the biggest bodybuilder. Bodybuilding is good for nothing but posing, it is not functional muscle.
Strength training increases bone mass at 12-15% per year. It is also the only thing to increase mitochondria in our cells and body. Mitochondria are the furnace of the cells; they power our bodies and produce ATP which produces energy. The fewer mitochondria we have the worse we get as we see in MS or chronic fatigue.
The key to strength training is heavy weights, low reps, limited sets and compound joint exercises. Using the most efficient upper and lower body exercise you can work out 70% of the body. The other 30% consists of your abdominal girdle (abs and lower back). You need to do 5-7 reps in 3-4 sets with heavy enough weight that the last two reps of each set are difficult. Between each set you should rest for 2-3 minutes. Make sure to increase the weight on your exercises every three weeks and go back down to lower reps.
The two exercises are chin ups (palms facing in) and squats. Then do some ab and lower back work and you've just worked out your entire body. If she wants she can do more exercises than this, but always do compound joint exercises (squat, row, shoulder press, leg press, chin up, etc.) never do isolation unless you are rehabbing a certain area.
The simpler a workout is, the better chance people will stay on it. Doing five different isolation workouts with isolation exercises during the week is not only useless in terms of functional muscle, it is very hard to keep track of.
For your cardio, keep it under 24 minutes per session and limit to about two times a week. Anything over 24 minutes of cardio breeds inflammation and does nothing more to train your actually doesn't have any additional heart benefits in terms of strength/conditioning. Do interval training instead of just a single pace cardio workout. Look up the P.A.C.E. workout for all your cardio needs!
And most important of all, eat paleo! Maintaining an ideal weight while eating paleo is an after thought. If you just ate paleo and did no exercise at all, you'd still maintain your ideal weight.
