Mustard is down 120 pounds.
In 2018, Mustard, who is 5’7”, weighed in at 340 pounds. What made the venerated DJ and producer first clean up his act was the 2019 death of his friend, Chicago rapper Fredo Santana, who experienced kidney and liver failure from Xanax and lean abuse.
At that point, Mustard had been drinking lean for years, he told Men’s Health, though his habit had tapered off. “I had a full bottle of lean, and it was expensive lean, and I poured it down the drain and never drank lean again,” he told the magazine.
By shifting his drinking and eating habits, he dropped 70 pounds. But as the pandemic set in in 2020, his hypochondria worsened. “I weighed like 270 and said to myself, If I get Covid, I am going to die.”
The fear of dying from the virus forced Mustard to start moving his body. “I started walking around my block. My walking turned into a sprint. Then three sprints turned into five,” he explained, adding that he also joined Peloton.
“I’ve been trying to lose weight for my whole adult life,” Mustard said. “I’ve had five different trainers. I’ve done every diet you can think of. … I remember the doctor would always tell me I have a fatty liver. So I’d say, ‘How do I get rid of a fatty liver?’ He’d say, ‘Lose weight.’ How do I get rid of high blood pressure? Lose weight. I got tired of hearing that.”
During his weight-loss journey, his loved ones’ habits had a significant impact on him. The 35-year-old credits his camera guy—”who is super into health”—for helping him change his diet. “I found the one meal that I liked the most: grilled tilapia, spinach, and corn,” Mustard said.
He then became a tennis afficianado via Ella Mai, who introduced him to the sport four years ago. Mustard burns 1,000 calories every time he plays tennis, which is almost every day.
“I’m just an extremist,” he shared. “When I start to feel like I’m gonna be good at anything, I’m going to try to be better than all my friends.”
Now, Mustard weighs in at 225 pounds, though his ideal weight is 190 to 200 pounds. He told Men’s Health, “That would be perfect right there. I just want to walk around at a healthy weight.”