Jelly Roll drops 100 pounds: How the country music star transformed his body
Jelly Roll has been consistent in his efforts to lose weight after admitting that he was addicted to food in the same way that he was addicted to drugs.
Now, halfway through his tour, the country music star hit a huge milestone in his weight-loss journey and has lost 100 pounds. In May, Jelly Roll told Fox News Digital he had lost “like fifty to seventy-something pounds” while training for the 5K.
In 2018, the country star revealed on Instagram that he weighed over 500 pounds in 2015 before he embarked on a health journey and lost 200 pounds.
Jelly Roll was photographed on the left in 2022 and on the right in 2024. (Getty Images)
The artist took to Instagram on Wednesday to share that “next year when y’all see me, you won’t recognize me. I’m going to get under a pile of weights in a way that I never had.”
In the video, Jelly Roll was joined by his nutrition coach, Ian Larios, who has been with him on tour, helping him maintain good eating habits and stay active. Larios explained what the country music star has been doing to reach such a huge milestone in his weight-loss journey.
“Next year when y’all see me, you won’t recognize me.”
“We just passed the halfway point of the tour, and Jelly’s been crushing it,” Larios said. “We’re either walking [around] the arena, playing basketball, boxing. He just surpassed his 100-pound weight loss.”
Larios noted that Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, has been focusing on a high-protein diet and shared some meals he prepares for the artist. One of Jelly Roll’s favorite pre-show snacks is a banana with Manuka honey, Stevia and dark chocolate shavings.
Left: Jelly Roll is pictured onstage in 2022; right, Jelly Roll is shown at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony in 2024. (Getty Images)
Jelly Roll says this quick bite gives him “fuel before a show.” Another staple Larios preps for the singer is his spin on Nashville hot chicken. He takes “away the oil and the batter from it,” which allows Jelly Roll to still get a good amount of protein.
Jelly Roll attended the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2024. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
“So it tricks your brain into thinking that this is, like, that nice greasy Nashville deep-fried hot chicken. He’s going to feel like he’s eating at home,” Larios said.
On Oct. 14, Jelly Roll was a guest on Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast and admitted that he has struggled with food addiction, similarly to how he struggled with substance abuse.
Jelly Roll shared in 2018 that at one point he weighed over 500 pounds. (John Nacion/Billboard via Getty Images)
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“The weight for me right now is the mountain in front of me, and I’m taking it, I’m learning. I’m being very diligent with it. I’m taking it really serious, I’m drinking a lot of water, I’m cold plunging, I’m eating right, I’m doing good,” Jelly Roll told Shetty.
“I just have to fight the pirate on my shoulder, you know them late nights, I’m a food addict, man. I’ve probably never said it this honestly, but this is the podcast to be that real about it.
Jelly Roll at the 2023 ACM Awards. (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)
“I just have had a bad relationship with food from birth. I’ve never had a good relationship with food. I never had a good example around me of it. I’ve always said that I believe obesity is directly connected to mental health,” he continued. “I know how easy it is for people to go, ‘Quit eating so much, just workout. It’s so easy.'”
“I wish I looked at food that way,” he continued. “But I understand it from the perspective of an addict, because I know what addiction is and how I struggle with food is the same way I struggled with codeine. It’s the same way I struggled with cocaine.”
Jelly Roll compared his food addiction to the struggles he faced with substance abuse. (Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Jelly Roll)
Jelly Roll explained it took him “years” to be in the same room as others using cocaine before he was able to not do it himself. Now, he feels the same way with food.
He opts to keep all food out of his green room: “I need to change my entire relationship with how I look at food,” Jelly Roll said.
In April, Jelly Roll’s wife, Bunnie Xo, revealed that the singer was taking a break from social media due to negative comments about his weight. He made his return to Instagram on May 9.
Jelly Roll’s wife, Bunnie Xo, announced in April that her husband left social media after continuous negative comments about his weight. The two are pictured here in May 2024. (Christopher Polk/Penske Media via Getty Images)
“My husband got off the internet because he is so tired of being bullied about his f—ing weight,” she said on her “Dumb Blonde” podcast. “That makes me want to cry because he is the sweetest angel baby.”
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“My husband doesn’t show it to you guys, but I’m going to have a very vulnerable moment here,” Bunnie Xo told her listeners. “It hurts him.”
Back at the 2023 CMA Awards, Jelly Roll told Fox News Digital that his weight-loss journey was giving him the “will to live.”
WATCH: Jelly Roll explains that being ‘happier’ is his top priority on his weight-loss journey
“I don’t even have a goal when it comes to health,” he said at the time. “I just want to keep doing the right thing and feeling better. I’m starting to find a will to live, and I want to lean into that. That’s it. I just want to be happier.”
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Jelly Roll continued, “Weight is normally directly related to mental health, so I’m trying to get that under control and the rest is following that.”
