Jelly Roll is crushing it—both onstage and on the race course. The platinum-selling rapper and singer, who recently joined Shaboozey at Nissan Stadium to perform their new collaboration “Amen,” also completed the 2 Bears 5K held at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium. Jelly Roll shared behind-the-scenes preparation on his latest YouTube broadcast. Alongside comedians and 2 Bears 1 Cave podcast hosts Tom Segura and Bert Kreischer, he ran the race on May 4.
This event is part of Jelly Roll’s inspiring 200-plus pound weight-loss transformation It’s his second time participating in the race, but this year he’s more than 100 pounds lighter than last year’s weight of 470 pounds, he proudly says. He credits Segura and Kreischer for inspiring him to finish the run.
“This all started because I’m a fan of the podcast, and I said I wanted to run this race with y’all last year. I showed up weighing 470 pounds then,” he says. “This isn’t about what we just did; it’s about what we’re fixing to do.”
Jelly Roll already has a goal for next year’s event: “I’m gonna lose another 100 pounds. I want to do this in 40 or 35 minutes flat next year on May Day. I’m going to do it twice, like [Kreischer] did, and for the first time in my career, I’m going to take off my f***in’ shirt on this stage.”
Jelly Roll, who once topped the scales at around 550 pounds a decade ago, says his journey to losing more than 200 pounds total was partly inspired by UFC President Dana White’s transformation. “My health journey started by watching what Dana White was doing,” he said. “That encouraged me to look further into my health, so I really got into physical fitness: working out, eating right, eating clean, eating healthy.”
Jelly Roll’s weight loss has been even more remarkable is that, as he stated in a recent podcast interview, he’s accomplished this without the use of Ozempic or other diet drugs. On race day, he flew from Miami to Las Vegas, then back to Tampa, all while maintaining his training. “We woke up in Nashville, did a show, flew to Miami, then Vegas, landed at five in the morning, and went right back to Tampa tonight for the 5K,” he shared.
While in Las Vegas, Jelly Roll, who started a “Losers Run Club” this past winter to help inspire others regain their health, took some time for recovery using Dana White’s cold plunge at the UFC Performance Center. Along with pickup basketball as part of his routine, Jelly Roll credits nutritionists and recovery methods like saunas and cold plunges for helping him rebuild for intense daily workouts.
Health is a team effort, he says. “We didn’t land until seven o’clock this morning, but I want y’all to know that when I walked this 5K last year, I was 137 pounds heavier than I am this morning.”