CHICAGO (WBBM) — Whoever said “man cannot live by beer alone,” hasn’t spoken yet with J Wilson.

The Iowa man embarked on a Lenten diet of high-calorie double bock beer–and water. (OK, so you can’t live on just beer alone, one needs to stay hydrated.)

After 24 days on the diet, Wilson says he’s feeling fine, but what he really misses is savory food like feta cheese omelets and olives and pulled pork.

Wilson decided he’d give up solid food for Lent to help with research on a book he’s writing about beer, fasting and Christian monks.

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“It’s worked out really well … I haven’t had any trouble getting anything done,” said Wilson, who is editor of the Adams County Press in Iowa.

Wilson has gone form 160 to 145 pounds drinking only water and beer, which he spaces out widely throughout the day to stay sober. He adjusts his beer intake, depending on the day’s schedule to “keep my wits about me,” Wilson said

He said the diet first left him with headaches and hunger pangs, but he says those left after a week and finally left him feeling just fine.

Wilson says he’s drinking four 12-ounce, 288-calorie Doppelbocks a day on weekdays, and five a day on the weekends.

The Beer Advocate says Doppelbocks (meaning “double bock”) “contain enough malty goodness that they’ve been considered a meal in a glass for centuries.”

Wilson says he embarked on the project to study Doppelbock, also called “liquid bread,” developed centuries ago for Lent by Christian monks. According to legend, the monks created by high-calorie beer to sustain them during Lenten fasting.

On his blog, Diary Of A Part-Time Monk, Wilson says the beer diet was starting to stress his kidneys, but that increasing his water intake seemed to relieve the problem.