Jelly Roll Talks About His Decision To Get Healthy, “I Could Feel Myself Dying”
on Dec 11, 2025
How Jelly Roll Realized That, Without A Major Lifestyle Change, His Days Would Be Numbered
Soon-to-be Opry member Jelly Roll openly shares the challenges he has faced in life, including his struggle with obesity. The 41-year-old is roughly two years into a weight loss journey that has transformed him in more ways than just outward appearance.
During a recent visit to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Jelly Roll discussed the motivating factor that led him to finally take control of his physical health.
In December 2023, right around his 39th birthday, the singer began to feel the urgency to make a change. At 540 lbs, he knew that many people his size did not live much past 40 years old.
“It felt like I had already cheated the game. I’d had multiple heart issues… I could feel myself dying.“
While he did not give an exact amount of weight he has lost, conversational clues reveal the number is nearing 300 lbs. Jelly Roll recalls that the last time he saw Joe Rogan, he had lost 120 lbs. He jokes that he has lost “an Ilia Topuria since then,” referring to a UFC fighter who weighs 155lbs.
Additionally, he recalls a friend commenting, “You’ve lost David Goggins at his biggest.” Goggins is a motivational speaker who began his fitness journey at 300 lbs.
Joe observed that even his hands are visibly smaller since the weight loss. Jelly Roll confirmed this fact, adding that he has had to change his ring size five times to accommodate his smaller fingers.
Jelly Roll Comments On The Mental Aspects Of Food Addiction
For many years, Jelly Roll would “yo-yo” or fluctuate between weights, but struggled to achieve lasting results. As he faced his challenge with a new, future-focused perspective, he decided to take a different approach.
The Tennessee native vowed to make it an intentional change, not just an emotional response that would quickly fade. Acknowledging his history with drug addiction, he began to explore the role that food addiction played in his life.
“Overeating wasn’t a failure of willpower for me; it was a biological loop that I didn’t know how to interrupt.”
Joe notes that the particularly challenging aspect of food addiction is that “you have to keep doing the thing that you are addicted to.” Of course, one must eat to survive.
RELATED: SEE JELLY ROLL’S DRAMATIC WEIGHT LOSS TRANSFORMATION IN PHOTOS
Jelly Roll began by taking small steps. After reaching out to renowned fitness trainer Gary Breka, he added a cold plunge and a half-mile walk into his daily routine. He recalls, through tears, that as he approached his house at the end of his walk that first day, his family was outside in the rain, cheering him on.
“I had done nothing but lie to them for years about this weight. I had never proved to them that I was going to change, that I’d be a man of my word in any regard. They had every reason not to go out there and cheer me on. That was the moment.”
From that point forward, he vowed to “figure this out,” not just for his own sake, but for the sake of his family. Similar to drug addiction, he realized that he was not in control and needed to seek help.
Jelly Roll says that “consistency is the magic,” and offers these words of wisdom:
“For people who might be listening to this who are dealing with severe obesity, I want to give you this: You will grossly overestimate what you can do in 90 days, but underestimate what you can do in a year.”
Listen to Jelly Roll discuss his health, weight loss, food addiction, and more in the video below.
