Hey there!
I honestly think that you look great.
I'm 16 right now and I'd love to be at your size at 39! or even now !

I, too, think that you look great. :)

The more I think of it, the more I'm convinced it's mostly a matter of perception. People are used to see us overweight, and it takes more than just a few weeks/months to register it. After all, it does take quite some time for us as well to not see ourselves as fat anymore! (Personnally, at around 64 kgs, I still SEE myself the same way as when I was 74-75 kgs. When in fact I KNOW I've lost, in weight as much as in inches/clothing size.) So probably it also goes the same way for other people. As Lilybelle said, when she also was 135 lbs before gaining weight, nobody seemed to mind or find this worrying, but the perception has changed in the meantime, getting 'used' to a higher weight.

And it seems to me like you did it 'the right way', plus you mentioned being in maintenance, not in loss phase. Seems all right. :)

I've heard the same comments from family and friends alike. I feel like there are several reasons for it. a) They're not used to seeing you small, b) They're now jealous because you're small and they're not, or c) They have a skewed perception on healthy weight due to so much obesity in the world today.

I ran into an old classmate when I was over 160 pounds and I've stated here before his reaction...something to the effect of how I "used to look GOOD in high school." LOL He backpeddled when he said it realizing how it came out. But THEN, I came back for a visit when I was 140 pounds and what did he say???? "Damn girl! You're TOO skinny." WTF!?!? I wanted to wap him upside the head...playfully of course. I was 132 in high school. So at 140, I'm TOO skinny? But but but...you SAID I looked GOOD in high school. Get your story straight or...WAP! ;)

As for the label reading and nutrition, I always read labels. Not just for me, but my son. WHY in the world do they need to ADD HFCS to JELLO of all things?!?! Its so simple to buy the premade jello, but I won't, because of that. So I get the boxes and make it for my son. Its just healthier, weight issues aside. My son doesn't have weight issues at nearly 19 months. BUT....I don't want him to ever develop weight issues, nor to be unhealthy because he was fed garbage as a child. So reading labels is just common sense to me.