Jelly Roll got back on the scale on April 10 and did not like what it showed. The 41-year-old singer, who had appeared on the cover of Men's Health in January at 265.7 pounds, weighed 276.2 pounds after gaining 12 pounds.
“That’s our reality right there,” he said as the scale was shown on camera. The weigh-in came after he said he had purposely avoided the scale because he felt heavy after overindulging during the holiday break and was afraid to see how far he had drifted from his target.
The number matters because Jelly Roll has made his weight loss part of his public story. He said he has already dropped nearly 300 pounds since beginning the journey, after once weighing 540 pounds, and had already completed a 5K before landing the Men's Health cover. He also said he hoped to lose at least 40 more pounds, and that goal has now sharpened after the setback.
Jelly Roll said the break in momentum started when he broke his collarbone about a week before Christmas, which forced him to quit running, quit exercising and quit walking for an extended period. “I kinda got off the rails, and I broke my collarbone about a week before Christmas, and that set me down, where I had to quit running, quit exercising, quit walking for an extended period of time….” he said. He added, “I have, to some degree, lost my way....”
He was blunt about how the scale had made him feel. “It’s April 10…. And I promised y’all I would weigh in this week, and I am scared,” he said. “I’m afraid to see what the scale is gonna say. From what my actual goal is….” He also said, “I feel really fat. I feel really bloated,” and worried aloud that the scale would show he had gained 15 pounds over the last six months.
The new target is bigger than just a lower number. Jelly Roll said he and his team have set training for the New York City marathon in November as the next goal, while he wants to get the last 40-50 pounds off and eventually cut his skin. He said he even wants to end up on the cover of something like GQ, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Forbes or Time with his shirt off, calling the idea absurd but saying he believes a man can go from 560 pounds to that picture. The setback does not erase the progress. It shows how fragile the next stretch will be, and how much harder the finish line may be than the first 300 pounds he already lost.