Jelly Roll, country music singer, on losing 275 pounds: “I wish I could bottle up what I’m feeling right now”

Jelly Roll is one of country’s biggest stars - in every sense, at least he used to be. In recent months, the “Beautifully Broken” singer-songwriter has put himself through a rigorous health regime which has helped him to significantly slim down.

The country star, who is nominated for three awards at next month’s Grammys gala, opened up about his decision to slim down to a more healthy weight - and the punishing physical workouts he undertook to achieve it.

The 41-year-old set himself a goal to shed enough pounds so that he could feature on the front cover of ‘Men’s Health’ magazine. It took him a whole year - he appears as the cover star in the current, Winter 2026 issue, showing off his new sleek, slimline physique.

He charted his weight loss program in a documentary directed by Dorenna Newton especially for ‘Men’s Health’ titled “A Year for a Life.” Today, 12 months into his fitness program, he is 275 pounds lighter.

Hitting 40 was the catalyst

“I was living a dream, a fairytale,” Jelly Roll explains in the film. “I’m winning awards on TV, I’m being nominated for Grammys, I’m on American Idol... all these cool, unbelievable things are happening to me and I’m literally too big to enjoy it.

“You don’t see a bunch of 60-year-old obese people. And here I was going into my 40s at 500 and some pounds‚” he continues. “I was probably having to eat 6,000 calories a day - of just absolute shit. I was so fat that there came a moment in life when my wife and I had to put two queen beds beside each other, because we couldn’t fit in a king bed anymore. I was killing myself - literally. I was eating myself to absolute death”.

Weighing 540 pounds on the scales, Jelly Roll realized that he needed to make changes to his lifestyle - if he didn’t take drastic action now, there would be serious health issues further down the road - maybe even early death.

Working with personal trainers, nutritionists, medical advisers and encouraged by his family, the musician signed up for a strict fitness program - “out of shame, not out of fear”.

It would be a long, slow and sometimes painful process. Rapid weight loss isn’t advisable and medical staff warned of the risks of overexerting the heart, so Jelly had to take it slow to begin with, starting off by walking to the postbox and back, then building up from there with longer walks. The aim was to reach 10,000 steps a day.

After the first first weeks of upping his physical exercise, following a diet and discussing the root of his eating disorder with a therapist, Jelly began to see the results.

The magic of exercise

“There this magical thing that happens when you start exercise, and you get through the absolute misery of the beginning of it. All of a sudden, it opens up, you feel incredible,” he recalls.

Jelly was soon learning about food, nutrients, what he was putting in his body, how it made it feel and resisting opportunities to eat comfort food just for the sake of eating.

All of the sacrifice, abstinence, grueling workouts and effort was worthwhile. The high point came when he stepped on the scales: 265.7 lbs - half of the 540 lbs he weighed when he began his journey.

“I’m loving my body,” Jelly concludes. “This is a whole new thing for me. I have been imprisoned to a fat seat for 30-something years. Maybe that’s my purpose, to be an example to others in every way. I wish I could bottle up what I’m feeling right now and give it to everybody who’s struggling out there”.

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