How often should I weigh myself when I'm pregnant?

While I'm not huge a proponent of the scale in most circumstances (as you might imagine, it's not so reliable once you start needing maternity pants), it is smart to use one during pregnancy to help track how you're doing from week to week. Rather than count calorie for calorie, use your weight fluctuations (up or down) to help drive your decisions about how you eat.

The important thing is to make sure to check yourself once or twice a week. Your weight gain should be steady; any huge increases or decreases may be a sign that something atypical is going on.trimester, you want to shoot for an increase of about 100 calories per day over a typically healthy intake of calories, or the equivalent of an extra glass of skim milk.

During the second trimester, you'll want to increase to an extra 250 calories per day, or the equivalent of a healthy mid-afternoon snack of ten walnuts plus an apple.

During the third trimester, you'll want to increase to an extra 300 calories per day, or the equivalent of three pieces of fruit.

Those caloric amounts are guidelines that you'll want to hit, understanding that daily amounts may vary a bit and understanding that there are many times that, because of nausea or exhaustion, you won't even get close to it. As long as you're in the ballpark most of the time, that's fine. Our end goal here is to make sure your weight is a healthy one throughout your pregnancy for your own well being, and to provide the best environment for your child.

The ultimate goal, of course, is to make sure you gain enough weight to build the infrastructure you need to support your baby (placenta, uterus, breasts, etc.), but not so much that people are asking whether you're heading to the hospital when you're only 5 months along.