How to Calculate Weight Gain

Calculating or tracking weight gain can be a useful process, particularly during pregnancy. While it is normal to gain weight during pregnancy, gaining too much or even too little weight can be dangerous for you and your baby. Making a chart to keep track of how much you gain is a fun project to commemorate your journey, and will also serve as a useful tool to monitor your progress and make sure you remain in good health.

Instructions

• 1

  Write down your pre-pregnancy weight and body mass index (BMI). Determining your BMI is important because the amount of pre-pregancy body mass you have will determine how much pregnancy weight you can and should safely gain. You can use your height and weight measurements to calculate your BMI at the website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• 2

  Make a chart on your notepad to track the changes in your weight. The vertical line (running up and down) of the chart should start at week 0, progress throughout the expected length of your pregnancy to week 40 and should be at two-week increments. For instance, the first row will be Week 0, then the next row will be Week 2 and then Week 4. The horizontal line (running left to right) of your chart, should have a column labeled "Gain," for the number of pounds you have gained since the last weigh-in and a column labeled "Weight," for your new total weight, including the gained pounds.

• 3

  Weigh yourself every two weeks.

• 4

  Fill in the chart as you do your weigh-ins.