Raven-Symoné Only I Found Myself Attractive When I Was Heavy

If there's one thing Raven-Symoné never lacked, it's self-assurance. 

The former Disney star, 25, who once contently called herself "thick and fabulous," showed off a decidedly slimmer look at Wednesday's People's Choice Awards. Strutting her stuff in a cleavage-bearing, all-black leather ensemble with thigh-high Louboutin boots, Symoné says she was never one to consider herself unattractive when she was still heavy.

"I thought I looked fabulous before and nobody else did," she tells PEOPLE. "So, whatever."

If anything, Symoné is not yet entirely comfortable with her new look.

"Actually, now I wear bigger clothes because I don't like the way people stare at me," she says. "I liked it before. Now, you're just looking at me for the wrong reasons. Before, you were actually looking at me for a real reason."

Either way, the onetime That's So Raven star says she's breathing a sigh of relief over no longer having to deal with her show – the strain of which, she says, contributed to her weight gain.

"That's what stress does to you," Symoné says. "I've been not stressing. I've been in my own house, decorating and finding hobbies."