82. Habit Trackers That Don’t Shame You — How to Actually Feel Good About Progress

Tired of habit trackers that make you feel like a failure? In this empowering episode, Dr. Stacy Heimburger breaks down why traditional habit tracking often backfires — and shows you how to make tracking feel encouraging, not defeating.

If you’ve ever taped a cute tracker to your fridge only to abandon it by week two, this episode is for you.

You’ll learn:

✅ Why most habit trackers trigger guilt instead of growth
✅ Three creative, compassionate tracking methods that actually work
✅ How to use your tracker as a self-coaching tool (not a punishment chart)
✅ The #1 mindset shift to break free from all-or-nothing thinking
✅ How to visually reinforce progress — even when life isn’t perfect

Plus! Get access to Dr. Stacy’s FREE printable habit tracker designed with built-in grace and multiple tracking styles to suit your unique lifestyle.

💌 Download Your Free Tracker:
👉 www.sugarfreemd.com/habits 

🔥 BONUS: End Emotional Eating Vault Now Open!
If this episode got you rethinking how you track habits, wait until you dive into the End Emotional Eating Vault — a powerful digital bundle featuring 14 private coaching tools to help you overcome emotional eating, build consistency, and shift your mindset for lasting weight loss.

👉 www.sugarfreemd.com/vault

Free 2-Pound Plan Call!
Want to jump start your weight loss? Schedule a free call where Dr. Stacy Heimburger will work with you to create a personalized plan to lose 2 pounds in one week, factoring in your unique circumstances, challenges, and aspirations. Schedule now! www.sugarfreemd.com/2pound

This episode was produced by The Podcast Teacher: www.ThePodcastTeacher.com.

Transcript

Hey everybody, it’s Dr. Stacy Heimburger, Sugar Frye, back with you for episode 82.

I wanna talk to you about habit trackers, and I know I’ve done it a couple of times, but I do think they’re so useful if they’re done right. I’ve just seen so many times — we download one of these adorable habit trackers, maybe we get a separate habit tracking journal, we tape it to the fridge, or we have it in our bedside table, we have it in our purse — and we feel like this is gonna make a huge difference.

Day one, we check the box and feel great.
Day two, check.
And then… life.

So then we miss a day and we have an X. Then we miss another day and have another X. And then we see two Xs in a row. And almost always, what happens is — we see that and it means failure to us.

Instead of going back, usually when it’s time to track — like the third X — instead of doing it, we just say, “Forget it. F it. Not happening.”
OK? And that’s why we stop.

We track habits because when we have a visual reminder of something, it works. OK? If we have something in our face saying, “Do this,” and it reminds us — like drink water, take your steps, whatever it is — it helps us be consistent. It helps us not forget.

We think it’s gonna prove we’re consistent, but it doesn’t really prove anything. OK?
It’s not supposed to be — I don’t think it’s supposed to be — this all-in or all-out situation.

When we use the data — when we use our habit tracker with curiosity, we let it identify some obstacles, and then we figure out creatively how to overcome those obstacles, sort of course-correct — that is when these things really can cause or help perpetuate positive behavior change.

We’re collecting information like a scientist.
I know you’ve heard me say, “Be curious about all things change,” on this podcast before — and that is what your habit tracker is supposed to do for you.

It’s supposed to just be a visual reminder — like, “Hey, I’m trying something new.” That’s why it’s there. And then we’re to use that in a curious way — let it help identify some obstacles and then work past them. OK?

So, my habit tracker is not a checkmark or an X. I never track habits that way. I know it’s not successful for me to track habits that way because that’s how I used to try it. But I’ve made my habit tracker work — and work amazingly — and give me such amazing visual feedback.

I am a visual person. The gold star chart was probably invented for me.
I love visual feedback.

But when I see too many Xs in a row, I see failure — and I am not alone. OK?
But life is not perfect, and our habit tracker is not supposed to be.

So, I am going to teach you three ways today how we can track differently. And then at the end, I’m gonna give you a website — I’m gonna give you my habit tracker. OK?

Everything I’m talking about today — I’m gonna send you an email. It’s gonna have all of these three different ways broken out for you because I think habit trackers can be very positive for behavior shift and habit change if we use them in a way that works for us. So that means being curious, and having a couple more tools than just check or X. OK?

Option One: Checks and Xs — But With Meaning

So, if we’re going to use checks and Xs, here’s what I want you to do:
If you have an X, I want you to — somewhere on that paper, or in a journal — reflect on that X.

What does it mean?

I want you to say exactly:
“I was going to do this. I didn’t do this. This is why. And this is how I’ll do it differently next time.”

OK?

So if I’m tracking “go to the gym” — Day one, I go.
Day two, I go.
Day three, I don’t.

At the end of Day three, when I’m putting that X, I want to say:
“I was going to go to the gym today. I did not go to the gym today. I didn’t go because I woke up late and ran out of time. If that were to happen tomorrow, I think my plan would be this…”

So — how would I do it differently?

“If I wake up late tomorrow, I think I’ll take the stairs at work. I’ll intentionally go walk the stairs three times.”
It’s only one side of the stairs at my job — calm down. 😄
“I’m gonna go walk the stairs five times. Whatever it is.”

Then — because I’ve written that reflection down — I’m gonna take a highlighter and highlight my X. OK?

So that says: “Yeah, I missed — but I’ve reflected and I’ve learned from it.”

If I use my checkmarks and Xs like that, now I have a few things I can see visually:

• ✅ Checkmark — yes! Yay me!
• ❌ X — but also…
• ✨ X with a highlight — “I learned something.”

All those highlights speak toward progress.
All those checkmarks speak toward progress.
And the plain Xs? They just give me the opportunity to learn from failure and keep moving forward.

That is very good for me — my brain, my eyes — to see it on paper.

Option Two: Color-Coded Habit Tracking

The second way I track — and I used to do this with my steps all the time — is a color-coded system.

This is great for something like tracking a goal across a month.

So, let’s say my step goal for the month is 8,000 steps per day.

• Green = 8,000+
• Yellow or Blue = 6,000–8,000
• Red = under 6,000

Every day, I have to color something.

It’s not about leaving it blank because I “failed.” I have to be aware and look at how many steps I took yesterday. Then I color accordingly.

At the end of the month, I can look back and say, “Excellent — I got more greens than reds.” Or “More greens and blues than reds.” Visually, I can see the success.

Even if I have three reds in a row, I’m not defeated — because they’re surrounded by blues and greens. It doesn’t scream failure the way big red Xs do — or, worse, not even writing it down.

This is something I teach my clients specifically to do — and I personally use this one too.

It’s a reward system — and it’s visual. But yes — this method is missing a reflection component.

So, I like to use this for something like steps, which I think is a slightly more passive habit.

For example — drinking water? That’s active. That’s front-of-mind.
I may need alarms or reminders. That’s a high-attention habit.
Walking — that’s something that accumulates passively.

So I like this color-coded method for passive habits like steps.

Option Three: Percent-Complete Tracking

The third method is my favorite for water.

It’s a percent complete method.

If I want to drink 10 glasses of water a day, then each glass is 10%. So, I can color in one band each time I drink a glass.

At the end of the day — I can literally see how I did.

Then when I look back at my week, instead of seeing five Xs in a row — I see five 90%s.

And that is so much better for my brain.

If I were doing checkmarks and Xs, I would’ve had to put an X even if I drank 8 or 9 glasses — and that would’ve felt like failure.

But if I’m doing percentage tracking — anything over 50% looks like progress.

And it is.

Final Thoughts & Invitation

This is all about getting rid of all-or-nothing thinking.

All-or-nothing thinking is not going to get us to our goals.

We are not trying to be perfect.
We are trying to keep going.

How do we do that?

By tracking our wins.
By showing ourselves visually that we are making progress.

So — if your habit tracker is making you feel like a failure, ditch it or change the system.

Your tracker should work for you, not against you.

If you want to download the one I created, head to:

👉 www.sugarfreemd.com/habits
(That’s habits with an “SH” — shabits!)

I’ll send you a visual of all three tracking methods we talked about today.

And if you want more — I’ve just released a brand new resource:
The End Emotional Eating Vault.

Inside, you’ll get 14 of my most powerful private coaching tools — ones that have only ever been available to my 1:1 clients… until now.

Get it here:
www.sugarfreemd.com/vault

Seriously — it’s packed with mindset shifts and behavior tools you’ll come back to again and again.

Alright, I hope this was helpful. I hope it helps you level up your habit tracking game.

If you found it useful, please share this episode with a friend. And if you’re feeling extra generous, leave a rating and review. It would mean the world.

Until next week,
I’ll talk to you later. Bye!