First of all... Texas is a helluva state. 
Foxy women, guns, steaks, trucks, money, good American people who can't stand the government.. I love everything about Texas.
Here's me in Texas 
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/lounge/112524-texas-has-palm-trees-too.html
There are two good videos here 
Joel's Quit Smoking Library toward the bottom of the list and a nice writeup here 
Joel's Library - Minimizing the Weight Gained that talk about weight gain. 
Nicotine is an appetite suppressant in that it sort of tricks your body into releasing sugar into the blood very quickly. 
When you quit smoking, your body has to relearn normal eating patterns. And since food won't give you the quick blood sugar reaction you're use to, many people over-eat when they're withdrawing.
You'll notice that a-lot of smokers have strange once a day sporadic eating habits. . 
I for one am sure that when I'm in withdrawl, I'm even more wolf like with the food than normal. Normally, I am a rabid hungry wolf. Food, GRRRR. But when I haven't got nicotine ...  It's even worse!!!
However, I believe that being away from nicotine long enough would allow the body to readjust and our metabolisms probably get to be "normal" again.. I also believe that alot of people gain alot of weight before that happens and never lose it because they figure well 

 it because look at all of this weight I gained