UFC fighter Maycee Barber is reminding fans how important consistency is with fitness and health, emphasizing the importance of being active regardless of feelings. Barber, 25, shared a video of herself wearing black leggings and a matching shirt, doing intense sled exercises at the gym. “Do it sad. Do it angry. Do it heartbroken. Do it miserable. Do it excited. Do it energized. Do it happy. Do it tired. Do it confident. Do it discouraged. “DO IT ANYWAY. 👏🏼” reads the text over her post. Here’s how Barber stays strong, focused, and fit.
Barber starts her day with eggs combined with a non-starchy green vegetable. “All of my meals are some sort of combination of protein and vegetables—including breakfast,” she told Well+Good. “I really love eggs, so that’s something I have a lot in the mornings, often with a side of broccoli, or another high-fiber vegetable. I like to have coffee, but I wait until after my morning workout to have it. Throughout the day, I make sure to stay hydrated, too. Hydration is really important. I drink water before, during, and after all my workouts.”
Barber loves connecting with her feminine side when she’s not in the ring. “I would describe my style as a balance between sporty and girly,” she told ABC News. “Being a professional athlete, especially in the MMA world, it’s a very masculine sport and it’s hard to be feminine while training or fighting. But any opportunity I get to get dressed up, and have my hair, makeup and nails done, I am the first one to take advantage.”
Barber enjoys a poke bowl for lunch, with lots of ahi tuna and greens. “Dinner is…yep, more protein and veggies! One of my go-to dinners is salmon and vegetables,” she told Well+Good. . “It has protein, healthy fats, and of course lots of fiber—everything I know my body needs to feel good. I don’t actually love the taste of salmon, but I do love the way it makes me feel. As you can see, I eat a lot of fish and vegetables; that’s pretty much the core of my diet. I just try to find ways to mix it up and keep it interesting.”
Barber is thriving in her weight class. “I had to move up from 115 to 125,” she told UFC.com. “It’s not ideal, but we found out that my metabolism was wrecked, and so we had to make some changes for my health specifically, so that’s what we did. It’s not a perfect world. In a perfect world, I would still be fighting at 115, but also I feel like a beast at 125, and I feel good. I feel strong, and weights coming down. I’m way now. That’s probably the biggest change that we’ve made is the weight class.”
Barber is philosophical about the ups and downs of life in entertainment. “You have the good days. You have the bad days. You have the hard days,” she told UFC.com. “You have the days where you feel like, ‘Man, I’m on top of the world.’ If you’re confident and you’re enjoying the process and you realize this is why I’m doing this, and this is what’s going to help me, or help my family or my siblings or my future family, I feel like all that is what makes it worth it.”