Elizabeth Smart posts bodybuilding photo, urges others to 'try new things'
Elizabeth Smart posts bodybuilding photo, urges others to 'try new things'
ANGELINE JANE BERNABEWed, April 22, 2026 at 9:34 PM UTC
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Elizabeth Smart posts bodybuilding photo, urges others to 'try new things'
Elizabeth Smart shared an image of herself competing in a bodybuilding competition this week, saying she is proud of her accomplishments and encouraging others to try new things.
On Tuesday, the child safety activist and author shared a photo of herself on Instagram from a recent bodybuilding competition, explaining that it was her fourth competition and saying the experience "pushed me, challenged me not to give up."
See her transformation here.
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"I am so proud of myself for doing this. I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it," she wrote. "My body has carried me through every worst day, every hellish grueling experience, it's created and nurtured three beautiful children, my body has risen to every single challenge life has presented it with, and carried me through so I refuse to be ashamed of it."
Smart wrote that she had been "too afraid" to post the photo before, saying she was "worried that I would be judged, not taken seriously, somehow perceived as less than or now unworthy to continue work as an advocate for all survivors."
Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Lifetime Television - PHOTO: Narrator/producer Elizabeth Smart speaks onstage during the Lifetime and A+E Networks portion of the 2017 Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 28, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California.
"Then this past weekend it struck me how eerily familiar these feelings and thoughts are for too many survivors," she wrote. "I think it's easy to be labeled as one thing, and honestly, that's not me nor do I think it's any of us."
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"We are more than just one topic, one idea, one label," she added.
Smart wrote that as she has grown older, she has learned "how important it is to make the most of today," and that "we don't know what tomorrow brings."
"I refuse to feel embarrassed about trying something new and am embracing my chance at life to the absolute fullest I can," she wrote. "I only hope that we all find the courage to chase new experiences, goals, bettering ourselves, and most importantly happiness."
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Smart was 14 when she was kidnapped from her Salt Lake City home in 2002 and held captive for nine months by Brian David Mitchell and his spouse Wanda Barzee, before ultimately being rescued in 2003. Her story drew national attention, and she has since become an advocate for child safety and survivors.
Mitchell was convicted of interstate kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor and is currently serving life in prison. Barzee pleaded guilty to kidnapping Smart and served six years of a 15-year sentence in federal prison before being released in 2018.
Today, Smart is married and a mom of three. She is also the co-founder of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, which advocates for sexual assault survivors, providing self-defense training and financial support, among other things.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
