Every 5 years, it seems like my metabolism slows even more and I'm now in my 40's. My new baby boy has inspired me to lose weight and get in tip-top shape for my new year's resolution. Unlike previous years where I exercised regularly and extensively with some focus on timing of whey protein isolate supplements consumption, I decided to use branch chain amino acid (BCAA) supplements to prevent muscle breakdown, increase muscle protein synthesis, and reduce fatigue. Without changing too much of my diet (I do try to keep my carbs under 200g per day) and making sure I continue to regularly use the elliptical and free weights at home, I'm amazed at how much of an effect BCAA has in my weight loss. In just 2 months, I lost over 10 lbs. Now, I'm kind of stuck and haven't lost more weight, so starting in May, I tried adding conjugated lineoic acid (CLA) to my diet to reduce body fat and increase lean muscle. I understand that this is suppose to be a "slow" acting supplement, but so far after 1.5 month, I have not seen much difference in my weight loss or fat percentage and don't really know if CLA really works. Next month, I can going to add creatine to my diet to boost my energy and train harder, but I will likely gain weight so I just need to make sure it's muscle weight in lieu of fat loss by doing heavier and more intense weight lifting. As a scientist, I find this process very interesting and fun to experiment with the supplement and seeing the results. I'm extremely carefully not to put anything that is unsafe into my body and I've researched thoroughly about the safety of everything I consume. Perhaps I've reached a point where I do need to watch what I eat in order to break through and lose more weight/fat. Eventually, I would like to gain back my weight in pure muscle. My ideal weight is 165 lb and 12% body fat.