Mike, great decision to finally quit! You have some healing to do. I quit in May after 30 years of dip, my blood pressure went to normal and my cholesterol etc also dropped to normal levels. Nicotine poisons us in many ways.
What will help in the long run is joining a quit group with fellow quitter's at the same days quit as you -- in your case the March 2016 quit group. Post roll there, your daily promise to use no nicotine for 24 hours. Get to know those quitters, exchange phone numbers. This may seem silly or strange -- but it works.
The March 2016 quit group is here:
topic/11424456/279/Meanwhile drink lots of water, exercise (as you found it helps with craves and weight gain), read the good words on this site.
On the forum page, the Getting My Act together topic has discussions and groups for exercise (which I need to spend more time at) and weight gain. Dive in, improve your health, and beat nicotine!