Jelly Roll‘s dedication and hard work have paid off — the singer lost an impressive 275 pounds! The “American Idol” season 23 artist-in-residence spoke about how he kicked off his weight loss journey and his commitment to a healthier lifestyle.
Jelly Roll Opens Up About His Weight Loss Journey
In a January 2026 cover story for Men’s Health, the singer shared the steps he took towards a healthier lifestyle, beginning with addressing his mental health.
Jelly Roll, who lost 275 pounds over five years, explained that he assembled a team to put him on a healthy path.
“Even before I got into getting my blood work done, I went and got mental health therapy about my overeating,” the singer shared. “I started treating my food addiction like what it was: an addiction.”
Jelly Roll continued, “Why did I treat cocaine a certain way? I went to meetings for cocaine and found a sponsor and detoxed off of it and [expletive] myself and went through real hard life-changing emotional choices to get off cocaine and codeine.”
“I didn’t look at the food addiction different,” he added. “Once I started treating food like an addiction, it started changing everything for me. When I started really looking at the source of why I was eating. What was I eating for?”
He noted that his weight seriously impacted his mental health. “It was never-ending sadness,” the singer shared. “And anger. I was a prisoner to my own body. Dude, wiping my [expletive] was a problem. Washing myself properly was a problem. Getting in cars.”
The singer continued, “Every decision I made in life had to be based on my weight. If it could hold me, facilitate me, or fit me — people don’t think about every facet of ‘I still want to be able to do that and I can’t.’ I was so inspired by that kind of stuff.”
Jelly Rolls Started Slowly With Fitness, Focusing on Movement
In a Men’s Health video, biohacker and human biologist Gary Brecka recalled the early days of working with Jelly Roll on his weight loss journey.
“I said, ‘We’re going to start by walking to the mailbox and back. And the next day we’re going to add a mailbox, and the day after that we’re going to add another mailbox. And eventually you’re going to guarantee me 10,000 steps a day, no matter what,'” Brecka shared.
Jelly Roll started slowly with walking and daily movement. From there, he built up strength and steps, and eventually tackled basketball, boxing, and climbing stairs.
The singer recommended addressing food first. “Just commit yourself to ‘I’m gonna count every calorie and macro that goes in my mouth,” he said. Jelly Roll hired chef and sports nutritionist Ian Larios, who helped him focus on clean eating and avoiding unhealthy foods.
Fans lit up the comments section of the Men’s Health Instagram post featuring Jelly Roll’s cover, with messages including, “Seeing Jelly Roll do this inspired me” and “Way to go! So inspirational!”
