Inside Jason Kelce's Weight Loss Journey: Everything He's Said About His Health Since Retiring from the NFL

Jason Kelce has been on a health journey ever since he retired from the NFL after 13 years in March 2024.

Shortly after sharing his emotional retirement announcement, the former Philadelphia Eagles player said that he was going on a health journey to "slim down." Kelce explained that his lifestyle had changed after the sport, since he was no longer required to maintain the high caloric intake of an offensive lineman.

“But I’m gonna slim down. My goal is 250 lbs.," he said during a March 2024 episode of his and brother Travis Kelce's podcast New Heights. "This last week I got down to like 285 because I knew I was doing this and then I had cake like three days in a row."

Over a year after he began his weight loss journey, Kelce said that he'd made progress, but he was also struggling to keep his body in shape.

"It’s getting bad,” Kelce said on New Heights in May 2025. “I don’t know if it’s the moment you retire mentally, your body retires too, physically, because I am just [struggling]. I’m trying to lift weights. I keep straining muscles.”

Here's everything Jason Kelce has said about his health and weight loss journey.

Kelce said he "tipped 300 lbs." while playing as an offensive lineman with the Philadelphia Eagles

During Kelce's 13-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles, he was an offensive lineman used to putting on weight for the job.

"As far as the weight is concerned, I weighed 295 for the majority of my NFL career," he told GQ in June 2024.

However, Kelce later added that there were times when he weighed over 300 lbs.

"I was never heavier than 300. Well, maybe a couple of times ... I tipped 300 in the NFL," he said on New Heights in March 2025.

He poked fun at his physique post-retirement after struggling to run a 5K

After playing his final season with the Eagles, Kelce participated in a 5K Run/Walk for the Eagles Autism Foundation in February 2024.

He finished the race in 43 minutes and later joked about his performance. Local news station Fox Sports 5 posted a video on X of Kelce crossing the finish line and wrote, "Jason Kelce ran a 5K to raise money for autism."

Kelce re-posted the video and jokingly added in the caption, "'Ran' is a generous verb for what occurred. But we had a blast."

In March 2024, Kelce set out to "slim down" to 250 lbs.

After announcing his retirement, Kelce also declared that he was going to set a weight loss goal.

“I look forward to getting skinny,” he said on a March 2024 episode of New Heights. “I’m gonna slim down. My goal is 250 lbs. This last week I got down to like 285 because I knew I was doing this and then I had cake like three days in a row."

Jason also discussed his approach to losing weight and said that he had no plans to embark on any "extreme diets."

“There’s different ways to do this," he said. "I personally don’t subscribe to doing extreme diets like going all the way vegan or all the way carnivore or keto. F--- no I’m not doing that. I downloaded MyFitnessPal and just started tracking calories. I feel like as long as I maintain my protein intake — so I keep my muscle — and just limit the calories, you’ll start to lose weight. So that’s the plan.”

Travis chimed in and proclaimed, “This guy’s got a plan in place and when Jason Kelce has a plan, it’s f------ done with!" Jason agreed and quipped, “That’s right."

By June 2024, Kelce said he "already" felt "better" after shedding 20 lbs.

Just three months after starting his health journey, Kelce told GQ that he lost nearly 20 lbs. and was looking "forward to losing" more weight.

"I don't want to get too small," he told the outlet. "I think a lot of guys, especially offensive linemen, they lose too much weight, and then they look like bobbleheads because their neck gets so small, but their head stays the same size. So for me, I feel like for some reason, 250 to 260 feels like I'll be still big and be happy with the way I look without having a six-pack. But I’ll still be able to have that stature a little bit.” 

At the time of the article, Kelce said he weighed about 277 lbs.

“It’s hard to imagine another nearly 20 lbs. coming off, being honest with you,” he shared. “But my back already feels better. My knees already feel better. So another 20 lbs. hopefully will make that much more adept at playing with my children."

He entered into a weight loss challenge with former teammate Beau Allen in March 2025

Kelce put a fun spin on his fitness journey by teaming up with friend and former Eagles teammate Beau Allen to compete in a weight loss challenge to "try and lose as much body fat percentage as possible in three months" starting in March 2025.

“Beau Allen reached out and said, ‘Do you wanna do a competition on who can lose the most body fat percentage but still gain muscle?’ " Kelce shared on New Heights.

In order to make the competition fair, both Allen and Kelce got a bone density scan done, and Kelce learned that he has "a lot of fat" to burn.

“There is a lot of fat in there!" Kelce quipped. "It's kind of embarrassing seeing your body broken down like this. Although, I'm not gonna lie. It's a good calf-to-hamstring ratio, I think."

He explained that he has a lean mass of “207 lbs. of muscle” with “58.7 lbs. of fat ... [which] is exactly 21 percent body fat."

Travis teased his older brother and told him, “You're a f------ hefty load, dude."

"Dude, this is what you do ... when you retire, you have to do stupid competitions like this to keep your sanity," Jason replied.

Kelce said he weighed 270 lbs. in May 2025 but was still struggling physically

Amid his health journey, Kelce admitted that his body is physically struggling from playing in the NFL for 13 years.

“I’m about 270 right now, I think,” Kelce said on the May 14 episode of New Heights.

Travis chimed in and pointed out that his brother could play his position as a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, but Jason quickly shut down that idea.

“Can’t, no, my ankles and knees and back won’t let me. It’s getting bad,” the ESPN commentator said. “I don’t know if it’s the moment you retire mentally, your body retires too, physically, because I am just [struggling]. I’m trying to lift weights. I keep straining muscles.”

The dad of four admitted that playing golf one week prior had affected his health.

“My ankle [from] playing golf last week is inflamed,” he said. “I can’t squat now because my ankle hurts.” Despite the setbacks, Kelce has continued to exercise and work toward his health goals.