When I've passed by 10st 2 (5ft 2) when losing baby weight, my face has been rounded and lost its shape. My bra size is 5 cups bigger than usual. Parts of my body like collar bones are hidden. I definitely look overweight even though it's not massively into that category. Obviously every body is different and carries it differently and I have a small build which means that I struggle to hide a good lunch. Once I get past a BMI of 23, I cease to look slim. My body looks best at a BMI of 21-22.
To stay healthy takes a degree of continual effort, but I have an advantage that my benchmark for my perception of myself being slim, and that my habits are generally sustainable. When I've gained weight from pregnancy, the cause has been obvious, and straightforward to correct after the birth and when I can get my pelvis functioning again.
For many other people it is not nearly so simple. It is easy for weight to shuffle up gradually over the years until it is problematic. Ingrained habits are hard to change. Medications, health conditions and contraceptives can make people more susceptible to gaining weight and resistant to losing it. There is a lot of bad and conflicting advice out there.
On an individual level it is a private issue, however the public scale of the numbers of people reaching weights that have a negative impact on society. On a societal level, there is denial. In my county, over 60% of people are overweight or obese. Many will live healthily without negative impact. Many won't.
Society is in a spiral where the remedy for a bad day is cake/wine/gin etc. We maintain this attitude sharing memes. Eating in public offers few affordable, healthy choices. Coca-Cola is villified when equally unhealthy options like syrupy coffees pass under the radar. Collectively we know it's not quite right but we're stuck in personal responsibility mode, and many find that difficult for various reasons. It reminds me of smoking in the 80s- we knew it was bad, but people weren't supported by legislation such as bans in public buildings.
We need to find a balance in society of learning to love ourselves and understanding what healthy is. There is a deficit of healthy normal imagery. At present it seems to be thin,musclebound looks which require serious dedication, or a backlash to some plus size models whose weight is placing them at increased risk of health issues.
What really concerns me is overweight young children/ teenagers who will have difficult times in addressing weight issues in adulthood. Sadly I've taught so many teenagers that look like middle age spread has struck already.