231 lbs at 5'9" does not sound healthy. He blamed that on a job?? Why does a job make you eat yourself to extreme obesity? That's a BMI of 34.1 where 30 is obese and 25-29.9 is overweight.
If he makes it through this, he should lose 101 lbs to get down to a good distance running weight of 130 for a 5'9" male.