Elizabeth Smart Elizabeth Smart, 38, shocked fans with a photo of her onstage at a bodybuilding competition<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n She compared the vulnerability of sharing her fitness journey to the trauma she endured as a kidnapping survivor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n Smart says she wants to “celebrate” her body, which she says “has carried me through every worst day, every hellish grueling experience”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Elizabeth Smart<\/a> has a surprising new hobby.<\/p>\n The child safety activist, 38, posted a photo<\/a> on April 21 of herself participating in a bodybuilding competition.<\/p>\n “When I posted the pictures in my story of me standing on stage in a bikini it probably shocked many of you, and I understand the shock because had you asked me if I would ever compete in a bodybuilding show a couple of years ago I would have said, ‘Absolutely not! Never in 100 years!’ ” she captioned her photo. It showed her on stage at the Wasatch Warrior bodybuilding and fitness competition, which occurred April 17 to 18 in Salt Lake City, Utah.<\/p>\n Smart shared that the event was her fourth bodybuilding competition, but admitted,”I was too afraid to post it before. 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.”<\/p>\n During her nine-month-long abduction<\/a> at age 14, Smart was subjected to daily rapes and endured physical abuse and starvation. She was reunited with her family in March 2003, after she was found by authorities while walking the streets of Utah. She’s now a champion for children’s safety.<\/p>\n She compared her feelings about sharing her new fitness endeavor to her trauma from her kidnapping, writing, “this past weekend it struck me how eerily familiar these feelings and thoughts are for too many survivors. 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 we are more than just one topic, one idea, one label.”<\/p>\n She continued: “I am interested in many things, and as I get older I realize more and more how important it is to make the most of today, we don’t know what tomorrow brings. And I don’t want to reach the end of my life and look back and feel regret for only living a half-life, not going after all the things I want to do and try.”<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for <\/strong>PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n Bodybuilding, she wrote, was “a big change for me, it was hard, it pushed me, challenged me not to give up. I am so proud of myself for doing this. I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it. My body has carried me through every worst day, every hellish grueling experience, it’s created and nurtured three beautiful children<\/a>, 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. I refuse to feel embarrassed about trying something new and am embracing my chance at life to the absolute fullest I can. I only hope that we all find the courage to chase new experiences, goals, bettering ourselves, and most importantly happiness.”<\/p>\n She went on to thank those who’ve supported her in her journey, including her coach Robyn Maher,<\/a> who wrote on her stories that Smart is the “toughest person I know. An amazing mother, example to all women, kind-hearted, genuine, humble, charitable, loving, and also a bad ass. Yes, you can be ALL those things at once.”<\/p>\n Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Credit: Elizabeth Smart\/Instagram<\/i><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\nNEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n
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