Jelly roll has been constant lose weight since 2022, and it won’t be slowing its progress anytime soon.
The country star (real name Jason DeFord) has been candid about his weight for nearly a decade. In 2015, she weighed more than 500 pounds, revealing in a 2018 Instagram post that a doctor advised her to visit a “meat processor or truck stop” to find out her true weight because typical scales only read 500 pounds.
“It was one of the most embarrassing days of my life,” Jelly Roll recalled at the time.
Although Jelly shed pounds over the following years, it wasn’t until 2022 that she began to take her weight loss journey seriously.
Jelly Roll has been on a mission to lose weight. “Next year, when you see me, you won’t recognize me,” the country star (real name Jason DeFord) said in an October 2024 Instagram video, revealing he’s lost more than 100 pounds. “I’m going to get under a lot of weights like never before (…)
“I’m going to spend the first few months of the year focusing on family and health,” he said musical chaos in December 2022. “I’ve lost some weight this year in 2022, but in 2023 I want to finally conquer the demon. I don’t go on a big tour until about the middle of the year. So I plan to use the first half of the year to tighten up the album and work on it.”
Three years later, Jelly Roll has lost 275 pounds. and counting
Keep scrolling to see what the musician had to say about his weight loss journey:
How Jelly Roll’s Weight Loss Journey Began
“I’ve been fat all my life,” Jelly Roll said on “The Bobby Bones Show” in 2022, revealing that his mother named him Jelly Roll because he was a “fat” kid.
“She started calling me Jelly Roll when I was young and I spent the next 20 years trying to grow into the name,” he added.
Jelly Roll revealed on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast in December 2025 that he told his family, which includes his wife. Bunny XOdaughter Bailee and son Noah, who would start working to lose weight for years before continuing. He recalled the day he finally took the first step in the process. Even though it was raining hard outside, Jelly Roll remained determined to go for a walk.
“In my mind, I was like, ‘I’m out,’ you know? I was like, ‘I’m done lying to everybody and I’m done lying to myself. I told y’all I was going to take this ride and I’m going to take this ride,'” he explained. “I’m coming back from that walk and I’m coming up my driveway, it’s a big hill. I can go up the driveway hill, and my family is all there. Cheering me on, clapping, hands up.”
He continued: “I had done nothing to them by lying for years about this weight. I never showed them that I would change or be a man of my word in any sense. They had every reason not to come out and cheer me on.”
Why Jelly Roll Avoided Using GLP-1 Weight Loss Medications
On its January 2026 cover by Men’s HealthJelly Roll revealed why chose not to use GLP-1 medicationsincluding Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy, to help you achieve your weight loss goals.
“I just remember everybody telling me GLP-1, or taking the Ozempic or the Mounjaro, ‘Listen, it’s going to hurt your stomach a little bit,'” he said. “I’ve treated my body so badly I can’t believe God gave me this voice for so long. I didn’t deserve it. I literally didn’t do it out of fear.”
Jelly Roll dealt with his “addiction” to food
In addition to exercise and lifestyle changes, Jelly Roll used therapy to treat her food addiction.
“Before I even had my blood work done, I went to mental health therapy about my binge eating. I started treating my food addiction for what it was: an addiction. Why was I treating cocaine a certain way? I went to cocaine meetings and found a sponsor and detoxed and shitted myself and went through some really life-changing emotional choices,” she explained about getting off cocaine. Men’s Health. “I didn’t look at food addiction any differently. When I started treating food as an addiction, it started to change everything.”
How Jelly Roll Weight Loss Improved Your Sex Life
Jelly Roll opened up about his intimacy struggles with his wife before losing weight.
Jelly Roll follows his weight loss journey, revealing that he’s lost nearly 200 pounds. “I started at 540 pounds and I was 357 pounds this morning,” said the country singer, 40, who introduced Pat McAfee during AHT’s Big Night Live show on Wednesday, April 9, according to a clip shared on X. “I’m (…)
“My sex life with my wife was horrible,” he said during “The Joe Rogan Experience.” “Dude, I married a big breasted, blonde, beautiful woman, you know what I mean? I married the kind of woman who makes you smile when you cry. I couldn’t even get excited, she was so big.”
However, now that he has lost a significant amount of weight, Jelly Roll said his sex life has improved.
“I feel like a teenager, dog,” he joked to Men’s Health. “I have the sex drive of a 17-year-old again. I’m hitting on my wife. We’re having daytime sex again. It’s amazing.”
Jelly Roll isn’t done with your weight loss journey
Jelly Roll said Men’s Health who still doesn’t feel like they’ve reached their goal weight.
“I don’t have a goal weight, I have a feel weight and I don’t feel it yet. I’ll know when I feel it, because eventually I’ll be there. But man, I’ve been working really hard and losing weight the right way,” he said. “I feel the weight loss in every facet. Whether it’s basketball and the way I dribble or move, or how I can breathe running up and down a court. I feel it when I sleep and my hip hurts less and I can turn more easily without making a big noise. Or the fact that my wife and I can fit in the same bed again.”
Jelly Roll has also explored the idea of surgery to remove excess skin left over from her weight loss.
“There’s a lot of skin under here. I’m starting to meet with skin surgeons to talk about possibly cutting my skin off next year. That’s probably the weirdest relationship I have. It’s like, I’m proud of it because I earned it,” she said. “It’s symbolic of a war that I fought with myself. But still, it’s in a fucked up way. So you keep looking in the mirror, like, if that wasn’t there, man, I’d be on fire. So, I’m probably (going to) have to cut those breasts off eventually.”
Jelly Roll says his weight loss made him a ‘better dad’
In January 2026, Jelly Roll talked about what his was like weight loss improved her relationship with her children.
“(It’s changed me) in every way,” he said Extra on Netflix Search for stars premiere “I’ve gotten closer to God, I’ve gotten closer to myself, I’m a better parent. I’m more present with my kids.”
Jelly Roll revealed that he started coaching son Noah’s basketball team, something he never thought he would be able to do.
“I just feel physically better and I feel like physically I can do it,” he said. “When you’re 550 pounds, you wonder if there’s even a seat big enough for you somewhere, you know what I mean? You definitely don’t think about trying to coach a team.”
Jelly Roll shares an update on her fitness journey
In another place of Search for stars in the premiere, Jelly Roll said the “biggest change” he made to lose weight was his “food.”
“Man, I was on the brink of death. I’m not trying to stay on a soapbox, I’m just passionate about how upside down our system is with food. And as an addict, it was hard for me to get away, so I worked really hard on food,” he explained. And! news. “Running has been my real healer. (I) wake up and run every day, I mean every day, seven days a week, even if it’s a recovery run, it’s a mile and it’s a 15-minute run, really slow. I run every day.”