{"id":80760,"date":"2012-10-17T07:00:41","date_gmt":"2012-10-17T12:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=80760"},"modified":"2012-10-16T15:25:06","modified_gmt":"2012-10-16T20:25:06","slug":"dana-vollmer-stays-fit-after-olympics-with-a-gluten-free-diet-and-hip-hop-workouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/10\/dana-vollmer-stays-fit-after-olympics-with-a-gluten-free-diet-and-hip-hop-workouts\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana Vollmer Stays Fit after Olympics with a Gluten-Free Diet and Hip Hop Workouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chrissa Hardy for HelloGiggles.com<\/em><\/p>\n

Dana Vollmer spent her summer training for London Olympic Games, competing in London and celebrating her gold-medal-winning, record-breaking time in London. Would any of these things have happened, had she not discovered her gluten allergy<\/a><\/strong> in the spring of 2026? She\u2019s not so sure. After years of daily stomach aches brought on by her food choices, Dana feels better than ever before and could not imagine returning to a life with gluten.<\/p>\n

Gluten-free<\/a><\/strong> has become a trend, a buzz word that has taken up prime real estate on food labels everywhere. What does it mean exactly? Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. Those who are intolerant of it, allergic or sensitive to it, need to adopt a lifestyle of paying close attention to food labels. I sat down with Dana at the Gluten-Free Pizza Event, put on by The Venice Bakery in Los Angeles, CA, to discuss her new life and how going gluten-free changed everything.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nChrissa Hardy<\/strong>: First of all, congrats on your gold medal win! Has your life returned to normal or is it still pretty hectic?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dana Vollmer<\/strong>: It\u2019s still pretty hectic. I\u2019m enjoying it a lot. Initially, I was planning to go back to my hometown in Texas to visit with my family and sort of relax, but I\u2019ve just been traveling non stop and I love it. It\u2019s been really great. It\u2019s one thing to have the excitement of the Olympics but, now it\u2019s so great to see the kids and how their faces light up when they get to wear the gold medal. I remember when I was 12 and I saw my first gold medal, that\u2019s when I decided that I wanted to become an Olympian.<\/p>\n

CH: What does your fitness routine consist of these days?<\/strong><\/p>\n

DV<\/strong>: I\u2019m trying to stay in shape right now, but I had to take off some of the intensity. Not so much that my physical body couldn\u2019t handle it, but mentally, it\u2019s hard to push yourself everyday for four years, harder than you thought you could. And then to have gotten a world record and the gold medal, knowing that I\u2019m really going to have to focus and push myself harder to top that, mentally, I just couldn\u2019t go straight into that. I\u2019ve been working on my technique and different strength exercises and I\u2019ve always believed that it\u2019s not just about yardage in the pool, it\u2019s about body awareness, technique and a feel for the water and that\u2019s what I\u2019m getting better at. I\u2019ve started doing ballet classes and just focusing on different ways to get stronger.<\/p>\n

CH: Do you have a favorite fitness activity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

DV<\/strong>: Our team at Cal does Hip Hop Dance and I love that. I had been away from the team for a long time so when I came back last week, I got to do a hip hop class with them and it was humbling, because I\u2019m not very good. But they just move so fast and the music is really fun and before you know it, an hour has gone by and you\u2019re just a sweaty mess. I laughed the whole time. It\u2019s just a really fun way to get in shape.<\/p>\n

CH: How has your diet changed since the Olympics ended? Do you get to take a break a little in that area as well?<\/strong><\/p>\n

DV<\/strong>: With the gluten and egg allergy that I have, I just felt so much better after I figured out my diet that it\u2019s not the area that I want to relax in. No part of me wants to eat gluten while I\u2019m on a break, you know? I don\u2019t want to feel as bad as I did before. The diet doesn\u2019t feel super strict, it\u2019s just how I know my body feels better. I can have anything in moderation. It\u2019s kind of stayed the same because it\u2019s a lifestyle change.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nCH: How old were you when your gluten allergy was diagnosed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

DV<\/strong>: It was spring of 2026. I had stomach aches as long as I can remember and I never knew why. I don\u2019t really remember a day when I didn\u2019t have a stomach ache. I just lived with it. Some days were worse than others. I had gone to the emergency room multiple times and they never told me what it was. To finally have it figured out, and to win my first gold medal at the world championships in the fall, it just feels like I keep getting better since then. To have a gold medal and a world record, I feel like if I hadn\u2019t figured out the diet, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d be here. I was exhausted all the time and not recovering from workout<\/a><\/strong> to workout. Now I feel like my body actually uses all of the food I put into it.<\/p>\n

CH: What is your go to gluten free meal to make at home?<\/strong><\/p>\n

DV<\/strong>: I like mixing it up, but I really do love the gluten-free pizza crust from Venice Bakery. It\u2019s just so easy to do different things with it; like some days I\u2019ll put ham and cheese on it and fold it up. Then some days I\u2019ll put pesto on it with different veggies. And I think it tastes so much better than its gluten-filled competitors. I\u2019ve tried a lot of breads that are gluten-free and I just haven\u2019t found any that I like. And this crust is just so good!<\/p>\n

CH: Is it difficult to go out to eat?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes it is. I feel like at most places I can create something and they are willing to help me. I\u2019ll ask for safe items like veggies and potatoes or just a few sides. At the beginning it was harder because I would try to go to only gluten-free restaurants. Places are getting better though. PF Chang\u2019s has a gluten-free menu and I know Subway is offering gluten-free options<\/a><\/strong> as well.<\/p>\n

CH: Have you noticed other changes with your body since going gluten free?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Huge changes! Now, if I accidentally eat gluten, I feel like I\u2019ve gained five pounds instantly. I just feel puffy. My brother and I always joked about how neither of us could get muscle definition and we just figured that we didn\u2019t have that body type.\u00a0 Now taking gluten out<\/a><\/strong>, that puffy layer is just gone and I feel so much leaner. I also feel like I\u2019ve been sleeping better, I no longer get headaches, and I can recover more easily after workouts.<\/p>\n

After speaking with Dana, I was able to meet Jimmy DeSisto, President of Venice Bakery, and I asked him about his famous recipe and the inspiration behind it. Jimmy told me that eight years ago a doctor friend of his asked if he could make a gluten-free product because she had seen behavioral and growth improvements in autistic children who switched to a gluten-free diet<\/a><\/strong>. That got his attention. A family man himself, he wanted to help out in any way that he could. Jimmy has dedicated the last eight years to creating the recipe (that is gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free and vegan) perfecting the taste to its current extreme deliciousness, and staying on top of the research behind it. He is honored to serve his community by providing gluten-free pizza crusts, flatbreads, and foccacia that are available online! In fact, order a bunch! These items are air-tight and easily stored for later use.<\/p>\n

Read More at HelloGiggles.com:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vegan Gluten Free Spicy Chocolate Truffles<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gluten is Not the Enemy: Why You Might Want to Reconsider Cutting Certain Carbs<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Vegan No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong>Event image by Chad Savage; Main Image by VH1.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chrissa Hardy for HelloGiggles.com Dana Vollmer spent her summer training for London Olympic Games, competing in London and celebrating her gold-medal-winning, record-breaking time in London. Would any of these things have happened, had she not discovered her gluten allergy … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,58],"tags":[10177,3245,23,14,35,1027],"class_list":["post-80760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness","category-womens-health","tag-dana-vollmer","tag-gluten-free-diet","tag-guest-blog","tag-interviews","tag-olympics","tag-swimming"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80760"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80764,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80760\/revisions\/80764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}