The answer is: muscle weighs more than fat, almost twice as much, so one could lose body mass and still gain weight. Everybody will see you as thinner, while your weight on the scale may not seem to indicate progress, so don't be discouraged. One mile a day will definitely get you in better shape than none at all, by decreasing body mass and increasing muscular tone, however increasing the distance you run to two or three miles may help bring more aerobic benefits which will help shed both weight and body mass. Stay off the soda, that stuff fluffs you up real quick! Good luck!

Muscle weights more than fat??? Wow, if you believe that i guess that you will also think that a pound of feathers is lighter than a pound of steel! A pound is a pound is a pound. A more accurate answer is that a pound of fat takes up 2x the amount of space as a pound of muscle. It is safe to say that a pound of muscle is more dense than a pound of fat. A good measure of your progress will be to get a trainer to give you bodyfat measurement and then come back in a month for another assessment. If you decrease body fat but the scale stays the same who cares? On a side note dont get fooled into thinking that you will gain weight if you eat after a certain hour. If you eat an apple at 12pm it breaks down to the same thing as if you eat the same apple at 12am.