Man’s beer only diet for Lent benefiting bars, restaurants

CINCINNATI (FOX19) - Last month, FOX19 NOW told you about Del Hall. He is the guy living off of beer for Lent. Not only is Hall benefiting from this unique diet, but he is also helping bartenders and restaurant workers during the pandemic. And it is not too late for you to help.

We spoke to him Friday with Lent ending in less than two days.

“I was looking forward to the weight loss, I was looking forward to how my body felt and I was looking forward to raising some money,” says Hall. “And all those things came to fruition so I’m extremely happy with how this year turned out.”

It has been six weeks since Hall last ate anything. For the third year in a row, he has lived off of water, tea coffee, and beer only during Lent.

Hall works at 16 Lots, a brewery in Mason.

This year, Hall is raising money for bar and restaurant workers who have been hit hard during the pandemic.

So, he has raised more than $12,000 to give to 43 participating bars and restaurants. He is hoping he can raise more money in the next couple of weeks so he can give $500 to each of those businesses to share with their employees.

“If I can walk into 43 bars and restaurants and I can put $500 additional dollars into their tip jars, that’s a big win,” Hall says.

Hall says the Gas Light Cafe is his neighborhood watering hole. He lives close enough to walk there. Something he has been doing a lot recently.

“It’s things like this [restaurant] that we’ve seen close during the pandemic,” explains Hall, “And it was one of the driving forces for me to make sure that I was helping those places out. Because without places like Gas Light Cafe, this isn’t Cincy.”

So far, Hall has finished 230 beers drinking three to five a day. He has dropped three pants sizes, four notches on his belt, and gone from a size XXXL to an XL. His weight loss so far is 40 pounds!

He is hoping to keep up a healthy lifestyle once he starts eating real food and drinking less beer.

We are 36 hours from you eating for the first time in 45 days. What’s going to be the first meal?

Hall answers, “I am so excited. This afternoon I’m going to go grocery shopping, and I haven’t been grocery shopping in over a month. So, I know I am going to make my special homemade guacamole. I make a killer guac. And I’m going to have a margarita. I’m not going to have a beer with it.”

Hall wants to ultimately write a book about how anyone can incorporate beer into their diet in a healthy way.

You can donate to help with this year’s fundraiser here.

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