Country star Jelly Roll has been open about his struggles to maintain a healthy weight over the years. At one point, the singer and rapper weighed more than 500 pounds and he’s been determined to make a change.
Jelly Roll has long been candid about the efforts he’s taken to make healthy lifestyle changes since the start of 2024 and they’re paying off.
Ahead, read everything Jelly Roll has shared about his recent weight loss and his health goals.
How did Jelly Roll lose weight?
Jelly Roll, who’s real name is Jason DeFord, kickstarted his weight loss by running. He stunned viewers of the Academy of Country Music Awards in May 2024 when he looked noticeably slimmer on the red carpet. The appearance came just a couple of weeks after he ran his first 5K race in recent years (and perhaps ever) — the 2 Bears 5K in Los Angeles on May 7, 2024.
Reflecting on completing the 3.1 mile run, he said it was “really emotional” because he “couldn’t walk a mile” in January, when he started training for the 5K.
“So the fact that we got three point whatever it was done today, I feel really, really good about it. I left here feeling really motivated,” he added.
Training for the 5K race has been a big part of helping Jelly Roll lose weight. After finishing the 2 Bears race, he told Entertainment Tonight that he’d lost “50 to 70-something pounds. I got to double check again — it was a lot of weight.”
Jelly Roll said the race was harder than he thought it would be. “I feel great, man. I’m a little tired,” he laughed. “A little bit harder than I thought it was, but it’s awesome, man.”
He added that the coolest part about the 5K was watching other people complete the race, some of whom set personal records.
“I think the coolest thing is how many people stopped to tell us that they were motivated by us, other big guys,” he said. “It was just really cool to see — what an eclectic group of people. There was a man running in a bear suit.”
In mid-April, while he was still training, he told People that he was “doing 2 to 3 miles a day, four to six days a week. I’m doing 20 to 30 minutes in the sauna, six minutes in a cold plunge every day. I’m eating healthy right now.”
“I’ve been really kicking a–, man,” he added. “I’m probably down 70-something pounds.”
“I feel really good,” he continued. “I was thinking, I plan on losing another 100, 100-and-something (pounds). If I feel this good down this weight, man, I can only imagine what I’m going to feel like by the time I go on tour.”
Now he’s surpassed his 100-pound weight loss goal
In an update shared on Instagram on Oct. 22, 2024, Jelly Roll’s nutrition coach, Ian Larios, celebrated the milestone and shared some recipes that helped Jelly Roll achieve it while on tour.
“You won’t recognize me,” Jelly Roll says in the video.
On the road, Larios has been swapping out some of Jelly Roll’s favorite meals for some healthier options while the artist has been staying on top of his workouts. “He’s been walking the arenas, playing basketball, boxing,” Larios shares. “He’s just surpassed a 100-pound weight loss.”
Before a show, Larios will prepare a banana bowl for Jelly Roll made with sliced bananas, Manuka honey and some Stevia-sweetened dark chocolate grated over the top.
Once the singer’s off stage, Larios says he leans into high protein meals. In the video, he makes the singer a play on Nashville hot chicken without the oil and batter. Larios’ version is air fried and seasoned with potato and rice flour. The french fries he serves on the side are boiled in bone broth for additional protein.
Jelly Roll’s weight struggles
Jelly Roll has opened up in the past about living with obesity and addiction.
In a 2018 Instagram post, he shared that he once weighed over 500 pounds, calling the day he realized this “one of the most embarrassing” of his life.
“I’ve been obese since I was a small child . All I’ve ever known was being fat , and I’m f—–g miserable. 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. I fight addictions and alcoholism everyday,” he wrote.
In the same post, he shared that in 2016 he lost 200 pounds but then began overeating again in 2018 and gained 60 back. At the time, he said he was recommitting to living a healthier lifestyle.
In February 2023, he posted on X that he was “working out daily… praying and meditating …. Eating better — losing weight. Making sure I bring the best version of me on my new album and this tour… this is what growth and gratitude look like in real time.”
In January 2024, around the same time that Jelly Roll decided he was going to train for a 5K, he took a break from the internet due to comments about his weight.
“My husband got off the internet because he was so tired of being bullied about his f—- weight, and that makes me want to cry because he is the sweetest angel baby,” his wife, Bunnie XO, said during an April episode of her “Dumb Blonde” podcast.
Bunnie XO has defended her husband’s weight in the past. In January, she responded to a TikTok commenter who called her stepdaughter and her husband “massively overweight.”
“For you to even come on my page and say something about my underage daughter’s body shows the type of human you are and I just hope you have the day that you deserve,” she said in a TikTok.
Even though he recently hit a major health milestone with his 5K, Jelly Roll isn’t stopping there.
“Next year, half marathon. We’re saying it right now,” he told ET. “I’m going to speak for them — we’re gonna do the 2 Bears 5k again, but we’re going to do a half-marathon before.”
