SHAKER HEIGHTS -- It wasn't the fact that he had to keep buying clothes or that he couldn't fit in to the booths at restaurants.
What Brandt Butze's sister, Hallie Stewart, said to him a little more than a month ago shook him to his core.
"She told me you are going to die, and I think she told me different ways in the past, but this time it resonated," Butze said.
Now, weeks later, Stewart texts her brother everyday something amazing he has to live for.
That support, and the fact that he finally felt ready to lose weight, has put him in the position he's in today.
Down nearly 30 pounds-- in about as many days-- his starting weight was 370 lbs.
"It's going great, I never felt better. I was an athlete and I feel better now than I did when I was in prime shape," said Butze.
"The weight loss is progressing, but mentally, spiritually, physically. I feel much better. I want to get up, I want to get out and if I don't get out I don't feel good!"
His own family and his Facebook family are making the process easier. Each day he posts a picture post-workout and it's something friends have grown accustomed to seeing on their News feed.
"If my picture doesn't go up there, people ask me, people call me, inbox, call me, people post it on my wall saying, "did you walk today?" I love it. I could not have done this without Facebook."
The pictures show a signature two-thumbs-up. Butze's struggle with weight started in 2004. He quit drinking cold-turkey. That's when his food addiction began.
"Living with an addiction is not happy, it's a lot of tears of a clown, smiles, but I was pretty miserable inside."
Slowly his family watched him gain a few pounds here and there.
Dr. Christine Alexander, with MetroHealth Medical Center, said there is a science to weaning yourself from addiction.
"When you stop cold turkey, your stressors that lead you to that addiction doesn't go away, the thing that you were using to cope with them, the thing to which you were addicted is the thing that has gone away, so it's real easy to just transfer that to something else." Dr. Alexander said.
Brandt has adopted a low-carb lifestyle. He makes appointments with walking partners each day and some are his Facebook friends.
One friend, that he hasn't seen in more than a decade, who is also overweight, says she has now walked 12 days in a row after being inspired by Brandt.
Not every day is easy or fun. But the result has been life-changing for Brandt. Butze said,
"If you are struggling, reach out, people will reach right back to you."
You can reach out to Brandt on Facebook, or follow him on Twitter @BrandtHHButze.
WKYC-TV