The Stats Don't Lie

There are lots of things I'm proud of that occurred during this 9-month trip.  Overall, I feel it was a job well done.  But describing the experience to people presents a challenge -- it's hard to distill all the experiences and feelings into manageable soundbites.  Objective statistics can of course help.  They convey unassailable facts about the journey.  Here are some interesting numbers --

18,537 
The number of page-views this blog received as of this writing.  Thanks to you, we received lots of traffic!

0 
The number of meals I cooked during my anno sabbatico.  That is impressive, si?  This is the figure of which I may be most proud.  An unblemished record.

4,230,375 
The number of steps I took (while wearing my Nike fuel band) during the 9 months.  The average American in this period would have taken 1,410,125 steps.  My 4.2 million steps amounted to over 2000 miles.

-3 
I went back to my Palo Alto gym today for the first time since March 1.  While there, I weighed in.  I lost 3 pounds.  Given that I ate pasta probably 6 times per week, that I ate gelato or some Italian pastry probably 5 times per week, and that I never once made a home-cooked meal, this number is an eye-opener.  (It is obviously connected to the immediately preceding number.)  I think it also puts an end to the debate over the impact of high-carb diets!  My diet book will publish in February.....