Elizabeth Smart shares one piece of advice that transformed her bodybuilding journey

Elizabeth Smart is talking about the secret to her abs after taking up the art of bodybuilding, which has left her feeling proud of her body after years of 'shame'.

The mom-of-three has been through a lot, but now she has taken control of her health and is loving her results.

You might recognize Elizabeth's name as the girl who has been kidnapped and held captive for nine months back in 2002.

Elizabeth, now 38, was 14 years old when an intruder broke into her home in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 5, 2002, and kidnapped her at knifepoint.

Eventually, and after much pain caused to her and her family, Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee were found to be the guilty parties who stole her away.

Mitchell would be given a life sentence in prison, while Barzee was handed a sentence of 15 years. However, she was released in 2018.

Despite finally being reunited at home, Elizabeth explained to E! News that for a long time she wasn't comfortable in her body.

“I really have fallen in love with it because I just feel like it's an outer reflection of how I have felt about my body,” she explained. “I am so grateful to my body. It really has carried me through so much, and I feel like it's protected my soul, and it's protected my heart, and it's given me three beautiful children.

She added: "It's brought me through every worst day of my life and so now I want to celebrate it.”

Since going public with her bodybuilding journey only a few months ago back in April, the activist revealed how she managed to turn her body into its prime shape.

But it was more than her routine – it was who was there along with her for the ride.

“It's lifting heavy, it's prioritizing protein, and then for me, it was really important to have a coach that was there to help me,” she revealed.

She explained: “Having honest feedback and motivation, but at the same time being like, ‘Hey, I notice that this week's check-in it kind of looks like maybe you had a hard week or you slid back a little bit. Tell me what's going on. Let's see if we can work through this and come back better next week.’”

“I feel like all of those things have helped make a difference,” she added. “And then just constantly reminding myself that I can do hard things.”

Since her ordeal, Elizabeth has been using her own experience to help protect children from abuse and exploitation.

A documentary about Elizabeth's kidnapping and rescue is currently on Netflix, called Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart, where she opened up about how she hopes her work on the doc will provide some comfort to other victims of abuse.

She said: "There will be victims and survivors who watch this, and I hope they realize they’re not alone, and that they don’t have to be ashamed of what happened to them."