Inside Jelly Roll’s Weight Loss Journey: Everything the Singer Has Said About Losing Over 100 Lbs. — and Which Goal He Wants to Hit Next

Mar. 15, 2025

Jelly Roll attends The 56th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 09, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee, In this image released on December 12, 2024, Jelly Roll at the 2024 Billboard Music Awards.Photo:Sara Kauss/FilmMagic; Scott Legato/Penske Media via Getty

Sara Kauss/FilmMagic; Scott Legato/Penske Media via Getty

Jelly Rollinspired fans with his public dedication to improving his health — and has hit some major milestones in the process.

“I think that people who become as big as I became, when they lose the weight, they’re kind of ashamed,” he said on Bunnie’sDumb Blonde Podcast. “They’re so ashamed that they go hide and lose the weight, and then they come back out and they don’t really know how to interact with the world.”

The “Need a Favor” singer continued, “What I want the world to know, and I want people to see … is that I didn’t become successful because of my weight. I became successful in spite of it. I somehow managed to be this successful carrying 550 pounds. That’s insane.”

So how did the country singer lose more than 100 pounds and overhaul his lifestyle? Here’s everything Jelly Roll has said about his weight loss journey.

Jelly started his weight loss journey in 2022

Jelly Roll.Jason Davis/WireImage

Jason Davis/WireImage

Jelly, whose birth name is Jason DeFord, began his weight loss journey in 2022. That year, he toldMusic Mayhemthat his goals for 2023 were to focus on his health and “conquer the demon" that was his weight.

“I’ve been fat my whole life,” he said. “She started calling me Jelly Roll when I was young, and I spent the next 20 years trying to grow into the name.”

He’s lost over 100 lbs

Jelly Roll.Scott Legato/Penske Media via Getty

Scott Legato/Penske Media via Getty

“It’s cool because there was once a time in life that the culture I built on tour was the opposite,” theGrammynominee said. “It revolved around alcohol and drugs. And now our tour culture is around good eating and around exercising and doing emotional check-ins with our crew every day.”

He initially lost 70 lbs while training for a 5K

Jelly Roll.SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty

SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty

A major part of Jelly’s health journey has been walking and running. The dad of two told PEOPLE in April 2024 that he lost “70-something pounds” training for the 2 Bears 5K withBert KreischerandTom Segura. He was logging between “two and three miles a day, four to six days a week” to prep for the race, which was held in May 2024 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

Bunnie joined her husband for his first-ever 5K, and they crossed the finish line together. After the race, Jelly toldEntertainment Tonightthat when hefirst started trainingin January, he “couldn’t walk a mile.”

During his 5K training, Jelly used a sauna and did a cold plunge every day

Jelly Roll.Frazer Harrison/Getty

Frazer Harrison/Getty

As a part of his 5K training, Jelly tacked on a few other self-care practices like hitting the sauna and cold plunging.

“I’m doing 20 to 30 minutes in the sauna, six minutes in a cold plunge every day,” he said. After completing the 5K, Jelly evenshared a celebratory kissin a cold plunge bath with Bunnie.

He eats a high-protein diet

Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo attend the “Jelly Roll: Save Me” Documentary World Premiere at the Ryman Auditorium on May 30, 2023.Jason Kempin/Getty

Jason Kempin/Getty

Changing the way he eats has also had a huge impact on Jelly’s weight loss journey. During a November 2024 appearance onThe Pat McAfee Show, the singer said he brought a nutritionist, Chef Ian Larios, along on his Beautifully Broken tour tocook him high-protein meals.

In an October 2024 Instagram video, Lariosshared what he had been whipping upfor the musician. Some of Jelly’s favorite tour meals include a healthier version of Nashville-style hot chicken and French fries boiled in bone broth.

He avoided weight loss drugs like Ozempic because of his fear of acid reflux

Jelly Roll performs live for SiriusXM at The Stephen Talkhouse on August 17, 2024 in Amagansett, New York.Cindy Ord/Getty

Cindy Ord/Getty

OnDumb Blonde, Jelly touched on his decision to lose weight “naturally.” While he said he is not against usingOzempic, the singer chose not to out offear of getting acid reflux, a potential side effect of the weight-loss injectable.

“Every doctor I’ve talked to is for it,” Jelly said. “They said it helps. I just was afraid of it … As a singer, few things scare me more than acid reflux. Like, you’ll watch me get up out of a bed, I’ll burp and wake up panicked and go take something for it. You know? Because that stuff will just rip the vocal cords.” Per theCleveland Clinic, acid reflux can irritate the vocal cords.

“So I want to be very clear that I’ve done it naturally, but it wasn’t out of stubbornness or trying to prove a point. If it helps you, go get it. But for me, I was just petrified of the side effects of it,” Jelly added.

He’s worked to overcome his food addiction

Jelly Roll performs onstage during the Beautifully Broken Tour at Climate Pledge Arena on August 31, 2024 in Seattle, Washington.Mat Hayward/Getty

Mat Hayward/Getty

Jelly told PEOPLE in November 2024 that he struggled with food addiction and had to change the way he’s “looked at food for the last 39 years” to lose weight. The singer said that battle began when he was a kid growing up in Antioch, Tenn.

“Nobody in my house ever had [a healthy relationship with food], so that was the hard part, really fighting that demon at first and getting into that discipline and that commitment,” Jelly said. “But once you get into that discipline and commitment, it’s like an avalanche. Once that little snowball started rolling, it was on its way.”

Heopened up about his food addictionon Instagram in 2018 and said that in 2015, he weighed over 500 lbs. Jelly said that realization inspired him to lose “roughly 200 lbs” the following year.

“All I’ve ever known was being fat , and I’m f—ing miserable,” he wrote. “I wanna sky dive, bungee jump, ride a bull, parasail , ride roller coasters, I want to LIVE a normal life and have a normal relationship with food.”

He played basketball with his crew on tour

Jelly Roll.Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty

Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty

Even while touring across the country, Jelly remained committed to his fitness goals. He told PEOPLE that he played basketball every day with his crew — and occasionally with his fans.

The singer shared videos on his Instagram of himmaking stops along his tourto talk with the University of Kentucky Basketball Team andplay a gameagainst the inmates at a juvenile detention center in Houston.

“We got to go hang out with the boys at Harris County Juvenile and played a little ball,” Jelly wrote in the caption. “Turns out we’ve got some practice to do because they put a whoopin on us.”

Jelly revealed his next fitness goal for 2026

Jelly Roll.Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty

Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty

In his December 2024 appearance on theDumb Blonde Podcast, the singer told his wife that he had a new fitness goal to work towards: being on the cover ofMen’s Health.

Bunnie supported Jelly’s new dream and said that hearing it out loud made her “so giddy.”

source: people.com