Jelly Roll reached another major career milestone. He was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry four years after he made his debut at the iconic place in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee. The huge career goal is just one of the singer’s wins in recent years. In his personal life, Jelly Roll has lost an astounding 200 pounds on his weight loss journey. He opened up about the secret to his success. Keep reading to find out how he dropped the pounds.
Jelly Roll Battled Food Addiction
After years of trying to make a name for himself in the rap genre, Jelly Roll switched to country music and had nearly overnight success. When fans first met the singer, whose real name is Jason DeFord, he weighed over 500 pounds.
After concerns about his health, Jelly Roll began his weight loss journey in 2024 by running a 5K race. But his newfound love of running didn’t address the root of his obesity.
“I’ve never had a healthy relationship with food, so that was the hard part. 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,” Jelly Roll told PEOPLE magazine that same year.
He admitted to Fox News Digital in 2025 that his food addiction was still a struggle. “If you’re really battling obesity, you got to start at the dinner table, man. The walking’s great, all the other stuff’s great, but you got to fight that addiction at the dinner table,” he told the outlet.
He Had Some Help
Jelly Roll recently debuted a much slimmer figure that had people questioning if he used weight loss injections to lose weight. He previously denied using Ozempic or other medication. He explained that he wanted to drop pounds the old-fashioned way because acid reflux is a possible side effect of the weight loss drugs. Jelly Roll was worried acid reflux would ruin his voice.
The singer actually lost a huge amount of weight around 2018 but put it all back on. “I don’t want to blame it on tour but man it’s so hard to balance life living out of truck stops and always running late to the shows, never getting adequate sleep and all the drinking,” he wrote in a candid Instagram post at the time.
So, when he embarked on another tour, he enlisted nutritionist Ian Larios to keep him on track. “He’s been really helping me. We’ve been shooting basketball. We’ve been walking,” Jelly Roll said.
The nutritionist made some of the singer’s favorite meals in a healthier way. According to Today, one pre-show dish was a banana bowl made with “sliced bananas, Manuka honey and some Stevia-sweetened dark chocolate grated over the top.”
Jelly Roll was on hand in August 2025 to speak to his favorite football team, the Tennessee Titans. He revealed how much weight he’d lost. “I lost 200 pounds. I told coach I’m getting a contract if I lose another 50,” the country singer joked.
Joining the football team would be another goal Jelly Roll reached after losing weight. He made his debut in the WWE, rode a scooter in various cities in Europe, and many other firsts. His next goal for 2026 is to lose more weight, get the extra skin removed, and pose on the cover of Men’s Health.
Jennifer Havener grew up in a small town in Upstate New York. She earned her B.A in Writing & Literature from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. She always knew watching reality TV shows and soap operas, particularly ‘Days of Our Lives’, would come in handy someday. When she’s not writing, she’s playing with her dogs, Lola and Ruger
