Over the past few years, Jelly Roll has lost well over 200 lbs. after deciding to publicly embark on a health journey. The country superstar has never been afraid to discuss his progress, and he did just that in a new interview on The Hot Hits with Nic and Loren, revealing that such significant weight loss has changed his life “in every way.”
“I sleep better, I walk better,” the singer told the hosts. “I talk better, I have more energy.” Aside from the physical improvements he’s experienced, Jelly Roll revealed that losing weight has also had a positive impact on his interactions with others.
“I’m nicer,” he said. “You know what I’m saying? I was a mean fat person. I was a cocky, arrogant, fat a**hole. Like what? It’s crazy. Somebody was like, ‘You’re going to get a six-pack and turn into a monster.’ I was like, ‘I’m actually becoming a way better human.’ I don’t hate my life as much. You know what I mean?”
His weight loss has also impacted his music, with Jelly Roll sharing that his upcoming new album will be “dramatically different” than his previous work, in part due to the fact that he’s both mentally and physically in a much better place.
“This new album, I’m definitely writing from like a dude who’s in year 10 of marriage and has a daughter going to college, and I’m definitely writing from a way more grownup perspective, writing from the perspective of a man that’s 120 kilos (264.5 pounds) lighter than he was. You know what I mean?”
Jelly Roll has undergone multiple weight loss journeys throughout his life. In 2018, he told fans that in 2015 he weighed over 550 pounds and went on to lose around 200 pounds the following year. He decided to embark on another health journey in 2022, shedding 110 pounds by 2024. In October of that year, he shared a video on Instagram, saying, “Next year when y’all see me, you won’t recognize me.”
The singer’s prediction has since come true, though he told Chris Van Vliet during a recent interview that he doesn’t have a goal in mind when it comes to his physical progress. “I don’t know if I have a goal yet,” he reflected. “I know I feel a lot better now, but my knees hurt, my hips hurt from all the running [and] I want to get small enough where I can do the physical stuff I want to do in life and not feel tortured for it.”
When Van Vliet asked about the moment Jelly Roll decided he “needed to make a change,” the 40-year-old shared that he doesn’t know “exactly,” but he had “started feeling like death, and I mean that in the most literal way you can say it.”
“I had to sleep in a certain position because if I rolled one way, I’d choke on my spit,” Jelly Roll recalled of being at his heaviest. “It was really getting bad. It was affecting every part of my life. Not just some parts. Being big affects most parts, but there was not one part of my life that wasn’t affected by it. It was just horrible, and I was just so sick of it.”
Aside from addressing his diet and movement, Jelly Roll also had to address his relationship with food, something he had struggled with for his entire life.
“My physical right now is a direct reflection of what’s happening between my ears,” he explained. “Of me saying the things I used to eat, of me taking the time to process the emotions I used to eat and expressing them and accepting them and making peace with them… accepting them for what they are. I had to start treating food as I treated every other drug addiction in my life.”
For more information on Jelly Roll’s new music and more, visit his official website.
