Featured on the cover of Men’s Health in January 2026, Jelly Roll went through a huge transformation to get there.

The country/rap singer has achieved so much through his career, and his next feat was taking control of his weight. Keep reading to learn more about his journey.

Jelly Roll’s Men’s Health Dream

In 2024, Jelly Roll publicly announced he wanted to appear on the cover of Men’s Health.

Soon after, Director Dorenna Newton joined forces with Jelly Roll, creating A Year for a Life, documenting his weight loss journey. They filmed across multi-continental world tours and consulted with experts in obesity.

“I was deeply moved by Jelly Roll’s willingness to share the raw truth of his journey,” Newton commented. “What inspired me most was his determination to use his story as a source of hope for others—proving that real change is possible no matter how high the stakes or how public the struggle.”

Jelly Roll achieved his goal, going from 540 pounds to a stunning 265. And he’s not done yet.

Losing the Weight

While some speculated that Jelly Roll used weight loss drugs, he has since confirmed that he used no weight loss drugs like GLP-1s. Instead, he hired a nutritionist and personal trainer.

During an interview, he stated, “I just remember everyone telling me GLP-1s, or taking the Ozempic or the Mounjaro, listen, it’s gonna hurt your stomach a little bit. I’ve treated my body so bad, I can’t believe God’s gave me this voice for this long. I didn’t deserve it. I literally didn’t do it out of fear.”

Fear for his health and his future pushed Jelly Roll to change his lifestyle, including adding exercise. After getting his eating under control, he found joy in exercising.

“(Once) You get through the absolute misery of the beginning of it, this thing happens in the middle of your workouts where it just sucks, and all of a sudden, it opens up and you feel incredible….I can touch my toes now. That’s a real thing. That’s a whole new concept for me, man.”

Food as an Addiction

The first step in Jelly’s journey was fixing his relationship with food.

“Once I started treating food like an addiction, it started changing everything for me,” he said during an interview. “When I started really looking at the source of why I was eating. What was I eating for?”

The addiction mimicked patterns Jelly Roll had during his prior addiction to cocaine. To fix it, Jelly recognized his addiction and how it connected to his mental health, going to therapy and understanding why he ate as he did.

One of the main factors pushing him to understand his toxic relationship was his career.

“I was living a dream, a fairy tale,” he said in the documentary. “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-something pounds.”

Being an Example to Others

Starting his weight loss journey in 2022, by 2026, Jelly Roll had lost 275 pounds.

While he doesn’t have a defined goal weight, Jelly Roll states he will “know when [he] feel[s] it.” His positive energy and changes have affected more than just him.

Instead of hanging out with his crew and eating, doing drugs, or drinking, they play pick-up basketball.

In his interview with Men’s Health, he states, “Maybe that’s my purpose, anyway, is to be an example to others in every way. I wish I could bottle what I’m feeling right now up and give it to everybody who’s struggling out there. It is special. … I’ve always said I broke down for a long time, so I just want to build now. I just want to try and build up.”