Jelly Roll Says He Was a '550-Lb. Zombie' Before Dramatic Weight Loss: 'Got Honest About My Food Addiction'
Jelly Roll says his fear of acid reflux prevented him from trying weight loss drugs like Ozempic — and that he has lost about 140 lbs. naturally
Emma McIntyre/Getty; Arturo Holmes/Getty
Jelly Roll (left) in April 2023; (right) in October 2024.Jelly Roll appeared on his wife Bunnie Xo's podcast, Dumb Blonde, where he shared an update on his fitness journey
The singer says he's dropped about 140 lbs. and plans to continue
He said that he was too afraid of acid reflux, a common side effect of GLP-1 medication, to try Ozempic or other injectables
Jelly Roll shared more details about his recent dramatic weight loss, saying he used to be a “550-lb. zombie.
The singer, 40, appeared on the Dec. 16 episode of wife Bunnie Xo’s podcast, Dumb Blonde, where Bunnie shared that her husband lost the weight “naturally.”
“He's putting in the work,” she said. “I don't want anybody to ever take that from you.” However ,Jelly was quick to point out, “We're not against Ozempic or any of that stuff. Every doctor I've talked to is for it. They said it helps. I just was afraid of it.”
Mario Tama/Getty
Stock image of Ozempic.Specifically, the "Winning Streak" singer feared acid reflux, a well-documented side effect from weight-loss injectables, saying, “as a singer, few things scare me more than acid reflux. Like, you'll watch me get up out of a bed, I'll burp and wake up panicked and go take something for it. You know? Because that stuff will just rip the vocal cords.”
As the Cleveland Clinic explains, acid reflux — when stomach acid rises in the throat — can irritate the voice.
“I just could not afford any acid reflux. So I want to be very clear that I've done it naturally, but it wasn't out of stubbornness or trying to prove a point. If it helps you, go get it. But for me, I was just petrified of the side effects of it,” he says.
The singer (real name: Jason Bradley DeFord) shared that he’s slacked on his workouts since coming home from his Beautifully Broken tour. But he has a goal in his sights: “I wanna be on the cover of Men's Health by March of 2026.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Christopher Polk/Getty
Jelly Roll with wife Bunnie Xo in May 2024.“I wanna have one of the biggest transformations,” he said. "I did this publicly for a reason. I wanna be honest about my struggles with it with people. I wore it for so long. I think that people that become as big as I became, when they lose the weight, they're kind of ashamed. They're so ashamed that they go hide and lose the weight, and then they come back out and they don't really know how to interact with the world looking different or feeling different.”
“I wanted to lose it in front of everybody,” he said. “I wanna bring people along with me.”
Now, he says, “I'm sorry it took so long. I cannot believe I walked around like a 550-lb. zombie for years. I even look back at the pictures and I was just hollow.”
“I'm gonna keep getting it off like I have been,” he said, estimating his total weight loss is “like, literally, like, 140 or something.”
“That's a human,” he said. “I lost a whole human.”
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
Sam Hodde/Getty
Jelly Roll performs in Arlington, Texas, in November 2024.Related: Jelly Roll Urges Congress to 'Be Proactive' Against Fentanyl Epidemic in Powerful Speech
Jelly shared that he had to take a hard look at his relationship with food, saying, “I also got honest about looking at my food addiction as an addiction. I used to feel like it was such an injustice to real addicts to call food something you could be addicted to, because I've seen people fight for their life on heroin. But I've seen people fight for their life in their own body.”
“I started realizing that the same patterns that I had towards drugs or alcohol at different times in my life was small compared to the consistent bad pattern I'd had with food,” he said. “It's like completely breaking that addiction.”
“I still feel lethargic and I still struggle on my walks and I'm still 390 lbs.,” he said, saying he plans to lose another 100 lbs. in 2025.
“I'm still morbidly obese. But I'm gonna lose the weight.”
Read the original article on People
