SHINING SILVER

During February I was able to "pin" Silver with AdvoCare. Reaching the silver level opened up a whole new window of opportunity for me. I need to say here that I reached this level because of the help of my Advisor Jill, my entire team, and two very special Advisors on my team, Stacey and Tara you guys rock!  Being at silver pin level during this time frame meant eligibility to go to AdvoCare's first ever Leadership School in Fort Worth, TX. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew my Advisor Jill had been preaching, you gotta get to Success School, you gotta get to Success School. To be honest, I was still a little hesitant. I mean yeah, I wanted to go. Who wouldn't like to take a trip? But I didn't get it. Boy do I now. This post is about the trip, funny's along the way, what I ate while traveling and challenging. I am going to share alot of info. Not everything, I know this is me talking right? Seriously, some of the info I gained at Leadership School is for AdvoCare Leadership. You can be a part of it too, it's open to anyone. So, if you are that interested in what I don't say get plugged in today! Just keep reading....This is a long one so you might want to sit down.

WELCOME TO TEXAS
"WHERE EVERYTHING IS BIGGER...
BUT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE!"
#ADVOCARE ~ Chad Penson

Thursday was travel day. I was blessed enough to get to travel with Dr. A and Jill instead of having to drive myself. My friend (whom I met through AdvoCare) Monette was my back seat buddy. She is a new mommy and has a precious little "Advo Champion" baby boy. It was a full 8 hour drive. I was a little worried about food. Ha, that's typical me isn't it? I was on day 11 of the AdvoCare 24 day challenge the day we left. We stopped at Wendy's. I ordered Chili and a side salad with against my better judgment pomegranate vinaigrette dressing. I tried yall honest I did. I would rather eat dry plain lettuce than that stuff! So I got a pack of the light lemon Cesar (I know no cream based but I couldn't help it) and only occasionally dipped my fork in it. We stopped at the Texas welcome center and I let Chad know where we were. He sent me a funny text (see the pic with his quote underneath).

Each day I was gone I maintained my product regimen of MNS MAX 3, Catalyst, Spark, Thermoplus, Leptilean, and Carb-Ease. Sounds like alot, but it's nothing to handle for me. I have a tiny tackle box that organizes it all very nicely and fits in my purse.

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On the way Jill gave me a special journal to take notes in. This journal is the first of many that I hope to collect over the years with AdvoCare. For training calls, Success Schools, and meetings. One day I will be able to look back through them and read all about my AdvoCare journey...Where I started and how far I know I am going to go.

Dallas Skyline...just because it was stunning!

Side note to keep in mind for this segment: I get car sick, I read two chapters of my Made to Crave book, got dizzy put it down and ate a snack. The snack was Jiff natural peanut butter to go packs, they were a perfect portion controlled traveling companion snack. We arrived in Fort Worth around 8:00 p.m. and at that point we were all starving!

We ate at Chipotle Grill. If you have never eaten there I highly recommend it. It was delicious. I ordered the bowl instead of the burrito. Then you build your own. Brown rice, black beans, grilled chicken, pi co de galo, and fresh guacamole. It was divine! We then went to the hotel. While checking in I felt like I was going to hit the floor. So picture this in your mind...me in a strange hotel in Texas feeling fainty, sweaty, and clueless as to where the restroom was. I got the room key from Monette and all but broke and ran for the elevator. I like to have lost it in the elevator. Like literally lost it. I went to fourth floor because I only had the key, not the sleeve with the room number (that should tell you how frantically I had to get out of there) and couldn't remember what floor the key sleeve had written on it. Ran to the door thinking please Kellie do not throw up in this elevator. Oh thank goodness there's the door. Insert key...Red light. Insert key...red light. Oh you have, insert key...red light got tot be kidding me. Carpet on the floors, I'm gonna be sick, insert key....red light. The only thing I could think was maybe it said third floor. I knew I could not get back on the elevator so I ran to the stair case. I said out loud all the way down, "don't throw up, don't throw up". Luckily I didn't run into any strangers in the stairwell. Got to third floor ran in the pitch black dark room and nothing. Just nausea. It took almost 3 hours to finally get to sleep and not be nauseous. Woke up the next morning totally fine. Whew, thank goodness. I will NEVER EVER read a book in the car again! Poor Dr. A, Jill, and Monette had to bring all my luggage up.

Thursday Monette and I rode with Dr. A and Jill to the convention center since they had meetings and it was a beautiful day. We went in just thrown on clothes and no make-up. Yes, I said no make-up. They wanted us to sight see. We saw some sights that was for sure! On the way back she drove I navigated. Now, I am usually really good at this. I had my phone GPS, problem was it kept dropping signal. So we took a wrong turn. So much so that I encouraged Monette to run the stop sign and just go for fear of us not returning home in one piece! It was an extremely shady looking neighborhood. Oh who am I kidding, shady doesn't even begin to cover it. She stopped very quickly, lol and we got out of their fast! We ended up missing breakfast at the hotel due to our "detour" so we totally planned driving by a Subway (shear luck) and ate there. I had a flat bread turkey wrap with egg white and spinach. Delicious! I was so hungry I really didn't care who saw me. We went back to the hotel and took our time getting ready talking and sharing stories. One of the things I love the most about AdvoCare is the people it has brought into my life. Truly a blessing to have these wonderful people in my life. We ate lunch before heading to the convention center. I had the grilled chicken wrap and fruit cup at Chik-Fil-A for lunch. I kinda felt like I had way to many carbs this day but I stuck to the plan as much as possible.

Outside the Convention Center

Really cool seeing all the AdvoCare signage around the Convention Center.

Convention Center foyer...LOVED this Star made of Cowboy (and Girl) hats.

Ran into this sweet lady in line at the
"ADVO GEAR" store. Maria Tanner.
She and I connected on facebook right after
I joined AdvoCare. We recognized each
other and hugged it out. She has is such
an inspiration to me. She is a mom, military
wife, and fitness leader. #champion

We arrived at the convention center around 2:00 so that we could "shop" (ha...ya'll do know this is me we are talking about right?) and find a seat. While waiting on product training to start we took a little break. Ron Reynolds happened to walk by. Dr. A scored us a pic with him! You will see him on the AdvoCare big stage photos later in this post. He introduced all of the Rising Star award winners. He is an AdvoCare Vice President, Distributor Development , Creator of Award-Winning DebtBuster® System, and author.

We had product training at 3:00. I loved hearing the physicians explain products and their benefits. We have a shield with the AdvoCare company and it is that Med/Sci board. Practicing Doctors and Scientist that work diligently with AdvoCare to make sure that we are producing and distributing some of the safest, highest quality products available. And that they work! One of them said, what good does a good product do if it doesn't work? Here are just a few of the tips I picked up from the product training:

• Schedule and time management are key to weight management.
• Protein should be a part of every meal.
• Lack of sleep increases stress hormones which increase carb cravings.
• Bad bacteria in the "gut" causes us to gain weight.
• Processed foods are low in fiber and when we lack fiber we fluster bad bacteria.
• The source of calories can dictate body composition.
• To lose fat you gain muscle.
• The Body will: 
• Gain Fat when Calories Increased and Protein Decreased
• Gain Muscle when Calories Increased and Protein Increased (increased calories from healthy foods.)
• Spark is not just energy it is FOCUSED energy.
• Amplify AT (one of my favs) is liquid soluble antioxidants that battle damage.

There were many more but these really stood out to me and made sense for me in my battle.

Has anyone else noticed how I look like The Jolly Green Giant...no wait let's say Zena Warrior Princess next to all of these people?  Geez!

These are just a couple pics of down town Fort Worth. I think it is beautiful there at night. It reminded me a lot of the Gas Lamp District in San Diego, which I also love.

On Friday night we ate dinner at Cabo Grande with Mark and Pam Rushmore and several other members of our team. Pam asked me to be part of an impromptu training video. I had to give just a 30-60 sec blip of my story for a training video they are working on. Mark and Pam are both very important people to me. I met Pam the very first night I was introduced to AdvoCare and her sincerity and passion helped me to make a decision that would change my life forever. I'm so grateful to her for that. I met Mark at a mixer later. I love that they do this together and appreciate their dedication to our team. It was buffet style fajitas. I chose to only eat a half of a shell. I chose grilled chicken, black beans, pico de galo, fresh guac and salsa. It was amazing. The flavors were out of this world.


I had two Sparks this day. One mid morning and one mid afternoon with my Catalyst.

One of my biggest inspirations was also there Heather Hodges. My trip was made at this point, yes even before seeing Drew. She probably thinks I am crazy, I was giddy with excitement. Why? Heather is a mom, just like me. She found herself in a place she wanted to change and realized she was capable of more, and DID IT! She makes me want to work for what my body is capable of, for what I am capable of because I was made for more. While making this picture she told me "If you can make it to silver, you can make it to gold. If you can make it gold, you can make it to gold 3 star, ruby." She does not know this, but I will never forget that. What an encourager, example, leader, Champion in my book.

Check out her blog, she's beast y'all.  Heather Hodges

The first pic is us waiting on Opening Session to start...My Advisor, Coach and Friend Jill Acosta, my sweet friend and encourager Monette, and I. The second pic is a #silverselfies pic! 

Opening session began with an amazing guitar rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by one of the band members. Reminded me that I am free to be a part of AdvoCare (an AMERICAN company) because of the men and women that have sacrificed their lives for us.










Drew was first! Wooo hoo! He has been using AdvoCare products for 13 years. Even though I have met him, hugged him, and smelled him, no wait that was Chad smelling him, ha, before it was very cool getting to hear him talk about these products! Here are a few of the treasures I walked away with from Drew:

• Get up at whatever time it takes you to be the best you you can be (I am NOT a morning person, at all but I'm trying Drew I'm trying.)
• Have a routine, the basics. Set goals.
• Get the hardest part of your day over with first.
• Be focused and present with whatever task is at hand.
• It is okay to have personal goal but make sure those goals align with the "team" goals.
• If you do things the right way good things will happen to you. It may not be today.
• Adversity moulds you into who you are.
• Trust your coach, your teachings, fundamentals.
• Always continue to work. 
• Being a champion means being able to accomplish something that is consistently great.
• Win the day.
• Have the mindset of "What's the next challenge".
• You are either getting better or worse, you never stay the same.
• Leave the "game" better than you found it.

Next was an array of AdvoCare Distributors, Leaders. Here are a few things they said:

• Have courage to take action in the case of fear. ~ Brandon and Jen LaRue
• Fight for the kids attached to your yes! ~Charlotte Valenzaela (FYI she had a rocking outfit on: Kelly Green chiffon strapless romper with a white blazer and heels ...HOT!)

Emmitt Smith took the stage next. Emmitt (even though I have never been, nor will I ever be a Dallas Cowboys fan) was amazing. He was a phenomenal motivational speaker. are a few of the amazing things he said:

• People are intimidated by change because they don't know whats on the other side of change.
• If you don't change things get stale.
• You have to have the proper attitude to step into your destiny.
• Don't run from intimidation, run towards it. Get your mind set in the direction you want to go.
• There has to be a vision that everybody can buy into.
• Look in the mirror everyday. Am I doing everything in my power to help this "team" become successful?
• What can I learn to make myself better?
• PROPER PREPARATION PREVENTS POOR PERFORMANCE.
• Begin with humility.
• Always acknowledge your team in success.
• YOU MUST MAKE SACRIFICES TO BE DIFFERENT, UNIQUE, A BETTER YOU. (wow that is #truth)
• You get better when you surround yourself with the right people.
• We were made to last.
• Do what it takes. 
• When you get the hardest thing over with first the rest of the day will be like riding a bike down hill.
• Success is not reserved for the elite.
• Don't compare. Want it for yourself and work for it.
• Stepping out of your comfort zone takes courage and confidence. (Emmitt Smith was not raised a ballroom dancer, ha!)
• When you make your work look easy you have done a good job.
• "The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards."~ Bear Bryant (See I knew I had to have a reason to like him, he ended with a Bear quote!)

Danny McDaniel spoke and gave an amazing illustration using a baseball. How our core values are 85% developed by 18. How people and things wrap around us that make us hard like the threads around a baseball core. How just like that baseball we keep rolling after being thrown around, batted around. How we have to cut away those threads to be a champion at life not just a champion at heart.

Saturday morning we got up and went to breakfast. I had three boiled eggs  (two with yolk, one without) and a bowl of oatmeal.

Richard and Sherri Wright AdvoCare, President and CEO of Advo








 Dr. Redman and other members of the Med/Sci Board

The morning session opened with the Product Development panel discussion. Here are a few things I learned at this session.

• The main goal to improve health is a state of balance.
• If supplements are not delivered in the proper way the "gut" will destroy them.
• Know the difference in "Hard-Science" and "Social-Media Science" when researching product information.
• Only 1% if the nation has actual diagnosed "Celiac Disease" and should be on a gluten free diet. These diets are usually high in fat and are not suitable for everyone.
• Individuals in families could have the same strains of microbes in their "gut".
• Probiotic is an excellent tool to improve over all health and weight management.
• Informed choice process AdvoCare uses is not mandated it is volunteer.
• After 30 we lose 3-5% of our muscle tissue each decade.
• Joint inflammation can be a window into inflammation at a deeper source. Your heart works in conjunction with your muscle and skeletal system, its all integrated.
• Vascular complications have been linked to cognitive health.

We heard from several other AdvoCare leaders for different types of distributor trainings. One tip I thought was really cute about commitment, probably because I have just recently signed up for my first 5K.

• The 5 K Example: You talk about doing a 5K. You tell others your doing a 5K. Then you sign up, actually pay, and hit submit, OH CRAP! I better make a plan to make this happen! It's called the power of the "SUBMIT" button!
• Quote about commitment: "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to drawback, always ineffectiveness."~William H. Murray

We walked a few blocks to Subway for lunch. I had the turkey flat bread with extra spinach and a little vinegar. At about 3:00 I had an Advo Breakfast Bar. The apple cinnomin bar is crunchy and so good! Again I had two Sparks. One mid morning and one mid afternoon with my Catalyst.

Then the testimonials began. All of them were great. Liz and Jessie Cort said that "there is more to life than AdvoCare but a little bit of AdvoCare in your life can change a whole lot of it." Kayla Schneider said she was thankful for AdvoCare because before she was "Thicka than a Snicka".

We got to hear Deb Fisser speak on word choices. Sooooo much of this training, I believe, applied to many aspects of my life. Things like:

• Listening is intentional.
• Walk into fear, it is false.
• What are your word choices to yourself? What are you speaking to your children? Your spouse?
• Your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, and your habits become your destiny. (This reminded me another reason to be in God's Word every day. Filling my thoughts with Him instead of things of this world).

We had training from Joel and Jackie Holcomb on team building. It was great! They broke it down and made it make sense. They talked about having a plan but making sure it involved action. Also that it had a purpose. A dream you don't have to fight for is not a dream, it's a nap.

One common trend that the most successful people in AdvoCare that we heard from had was that they were all couples. They are doing this together. The one that touched my heart the most was Brookes Reid from Tennesee. She trained us on the phases of a mixer. What she talked about that was a blessing to me was about trusting and respecting her husband. How doing this business together took the respect she had for her husband or "Big Daddy" as she called him to a whole new level. Trusting the decisions that they made together but that she allowed him to lead in with their business.

I also had never really thought about exactly how much responsibility men feel when it comes to providing for their family. My daddy has worked hard his whole life to make sure we were provided for. He did without, so did my mama, so that we could have the things we needed and wanted at times. That is a burden yall. Of course it's easy when your the "Princess" to say my daddy worked hard and appreciate him for that, which I do, love you mama and daddy. When its the hubs your talking about and you are in this thing called life together its not as easy. Chad is a by the booker. He works hard and plays very little. I'm the dreamer, and imagine this, the spender. This has not been an easy dynamic at times because of my inability to see what Chad was looking at. I am blessed and have more than I could ever ask for but I have never stopped to think about about how when "mama WANTS a new pair of shoes, not needs" that "daddy", a.k.a. Chad, is the one wanting to give me all the red high heels my little heart desires but he has two boys to put through college and a house to pay for etc. It's not that he is saying no, it's just that he has the discernment to say wait or maybe that's not what you need when I don't and I need to be okay with that. R-E-S-P-E-C-T YALL.  EYE OPENER! Shout out to my husband. He gives absolutely everything he does 110% including being a great daddy and husband. He is an amazing man that I am blessed to share my life with. I won't go into details because he would probably hack my blog and delete it for all eternity (he's also very private and a techie...and I am..well I am not). When I came home I wanted to share it all with him. Every detail. Things that I had not wanted to go there with him about because it was MY business (hence my independence and he-woman abilities). Not any more. It is ours. I know that we can do this together. I want us to do this together. He is one of the reasons attached to my "yes". So one day soon, he can let his hair down too.

At one point one of the speakers asked for anyone in the room that had because of AdvoCare paid off 50,000.00 or more in debt to stand up. You would not believe the people that stood up. Then he asked for any mom's that had been able to quit work and not send their children to daycare because of AdvoCare to stand up. Again, in awe. Then he asked all the dad's that had been able to come home to be with their families because of AdvoCare to stand up. Okay, at this point, tears were rolling. Then he said the reason we have "Leadership School or Success School is because there are still people sitting in this room and we want you to be able to stand up." Chills, pure chills. That is what AdvoCare is about. Now don't get me wrong, I love my job. Chad and I don't have any crazy plans to quit our jobs and run off into the sunset with our shaker bottles. We just want more for our family and AdvoCare can help us do that. It also reminded me of my goals to help others in this never ending journey I am on for health and wellness. That this is an opportunity to encourage and help. To pour into the lives of others because God has blessed me with this opportunity that allows me to share my story, my struggles, my wins, my losses, my faith, and my victory through Him.

AdvoCare Hall of Fame 

Top 10 Awards

 Benji Parr 

Live Chat with the AdvoCare Nascar Driver (Endorser), Trevor Bayne

AdvoCare Endorsers

This guy is our newest endorser. For all of you Cross Fit buffs out there. He will be at Success School in August. World's Fittest Man 3-time Champion Rich Froning. He is also the star of the new AdvoCare commercial. I'm good with that! 

On the way home we stopped at Arby's. I had the roasted turkey market fresh sandwich with lettuce an tomato only. I had a peanut butter to-go pack about half-way home. 

I know this was a long one. I just had so much to say. I am sure there are tons of grammatical errors. It wasn't all dream big, feel good. We sat through extensive business building training as well. (That's the stuff that you gotta become a party of the AdvoCare family to learn about!)

At first I was worried about being on a "challenge" while traveling. I've been extremely hard on myself about not being "where I was this time last year". I proved to myself that I could "travel" and maintain a healthy diet. I did eat a few more carbs than I would have liked but I made the best of it and stuck to the "plan" as much as possible.




This experience was exactly what I needed to be motivated in this journey again. AdvoCare stands for Advocates Caring for people. That in itself is another reminder to me why I choose to be a part of this amazing company. It was something I will never forget.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the AdvoCare Family or if you just want to look, feel, and perform better take a moment to check out my site. You won't ever regret the choice to "Be A Champion". Kellie Penson, AdvoCare Advisor

Special Thanks to Dr. Joe and Jill Acosta for an amazing trip. I appreciate the love and support both of you have extended to me. 

"You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you." ~John Wooden