NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For years, Krystal Goodman has been a familiar face in East Tennessee fitness media, often associated so closely with Knoxville that many assume she is a hometown original. However, her story did not start there.
Goodman is now expanding her reach far beyond Knoxville and is happy to be supporting the mission of Nashville Fit.
Though many people associate Goodman with Knoxville, she said East Tennessee was not where her story began.
“I’m from Maryland, originally, and my mom was married to a Marine, so we moved around all over the place,” Goodman said. “I was always the new kid in school.”
Since 2006 Goodman has been in Knoxville. She attended the University of Tennessee and decided to stay in good ole’ Rocky Top and plant her roots.
After settling in Knoxville, Goodman built her career through several well-known fitness spaces in the area, including The Rush, Gold’s Gym and Orangetheory. She now also teaches at HYLO Fitness, a concept that recently expanded into Knoxville.
“I kind of want to spread my wings and always learn something new,” she said.
Goodman said her fitness journey started early through sports and continued into adulthood in a way that felt natural.
“When I was young, I played a lot of sports,” Goodman said. “I did softball, gymnastics, and even played soccer in middle school, high school, a year in college.”
That passion eventually turned into a profession.
“I just continued to really love fitness and I became a personal trainer and a nutritionist, while I was in college. Goodman even graduated with a degree in Nutrition.
As a woman in the fitness industry, Goodman said breaking through was not always easy.
“I would say it’s definitely a man’s kind of job,” Goodman said. “I feel like a lot of personal trainers are men.”
Still, she said consistency and a willingness to keep learning helped her carve out her place in the industry.
“I feel like I’m very consistent and continue to try to learn and be open to learning,” she said. “And that’s helped me along the way too, when it comes to building my business.”
She also emphasized the value of showing up regularly online and staying intentional with what she shares.
“If you continue to be consistent and be online, people will recognize who you are and they’ll start to follow you and keep up with what you’re doing,” Goodman said.
One of the biggest themes of the conversation was Goodman’s realistic approach to nutrition. Rather than promoting extremes, she encouraged people to focus on sustainability and long-term health.
“I think of calories as energy,” Goodman said.
She pointed to current trends like GLP-1 weight loss medications and extreme intermittent fasting as examples of where people can lose sight of the bigger picture.
She also said women in particular need to be careful with restrictive eating habits.
“Starving yourself in the long run is not the best,” Goodman said. “Especially for women, our bodies go through a lot of stress.”
As someone who routinely trains for marathons, Goodman said proper fueling is not optional. It is essential.
She encouraged people to stop waiting until they are completely depleted before eating and instead pay attention to what their body is asking for throughout the day.
“I would always suggest to people to listen to your body, don’t wait till you’re starving and then eat,” Goodman said.
For Goodman, that also applies to exercise and recovery.
“If there’s a day where you don’t feel yourself and you feel like you need that recovery day, take the recovery day,” she said. “Don’t burn yourself out every day.”
Another major part of the conversation centered on women’s health and the misconceptions many women have about food, calories and body composition.
Goodman said one of the first things she notices with female clients is that many simply are not eating enough.
“Whenever I get a client that is a woman, I see right away she is not eating enough,” Goodman said.
She said under-eating can make it harder for women to build muscle, support their metabolism and see the results they want.
“Your body’s like, ‘What are you doing to me? You’re starving me,’” she said.
Rather than obsessing over the number on the scale, Goodman encouraged women to think more about body composition.
“You could take a woman that’s 150 pounds, she might stay 150 pounds, but we can change that composition,” she said. “They’re going to look 100 percent better even at that same weight.”
She also acknowledged how stress, hormones and the menstrual cycle all influence energy, appetite and performance.
“Sometimes you’re feeling all the energy and you’re ready to hit the gym,” Goodman said. “Sometimes you’re going to feel lethargic, and those are the times you have to, again, listen to your body.”
Goodman has become known for creating recipes and food swaps that feel realistic for busy people. She said her goal is to help people eat healthier without feeling deprived.
“I just love to share my passion for food and getting creative in the kitchen,” Goodman said.
She described one recent recipe in which she made homemade chicken tenders using crushed plantain crackers, gluten-free flour and a mix of whole egg and egg whites.
“It turned out amazing. It tastes just like Chick-fil-A,” she said.
She said convenience matters when it comes to helping people stick with healthier habits.
“I try to do recipes that are really easy and quick for people,” Goodman said. “Most people work till 5 or 6 PM. They don’t really want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen making all the things.”
Goodman’s online presence has continued to grow, especially through Instagram, where she shares recipes, nutrition tips and lifestyle content under the name The Klean Nutritionist.
She expresses how much it mean to her to know people connect with what she shares.
“I’m just another girl and I love that I can help people with their fitness and their nutrition,” she said.
Though Knoxville remains the center of her brand, Goodman said her coaching now reaches far beyond the city through remote services offered on her website.
“I send people meal plans, macro goals, calorie goals, and even personal training protocols,” she said.
That allows her to work with clients in Knoxville and across the country while continuing to grow her impact.
At the core of Goodman’s work is a message that health should not feel miserable or impossible. Instead of pushing restriction, she wants people to focus on small, sustainable steps.
“I just love being able to help people stay healthy and enjoy it without feeling like they’re restricting themselves to frustration,” Goodman said. “I try to teach little things at a time, and soon we end up changing one little thing each week.”
Give her a follow on Instagram where she shares running tips and tricks, healthy nutrition swaps and recipes, and all the behind-the-scenes of East Tennessee living.
If you are ready to start working alongside of her, visit her website.
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