This is really interesting...
I was on the pill from 16 until I was 26 so 10 years...I came off it last summer as I had just had enough of it, i went on it for medical reasons with very heavy painful periods, and wanted to see if I had 'grown out of' such painful periods (Good news is I seem to have done). I did put all of my weight on from about 20 but my lifestyle also changed as I went from an active teenager to an adult who spent 40 hours a week stuck at a desk working very unsociable hours so I cannot blame the pill for this however when I decided to come off this I didn't tell anyone other than my boyfriend (who wasn't very impressed, but I went with the tough it's my body stance) and within a few weeks of having come off this I had people asking if I had lost weight as I looked different. I hadn't lost any weight but I think whilst on the pill I must have been retaining water but that had gone so I did look different enough for people to notice.
Plus, and this I do blame the the pill for this, I used to have bad/grumpy moods and generally have days where I felt like a complete b*tch and felt pretty rubbish about myself, I did hide this really well so most people would never have known how I felt inside but it was like I was a stroppy teenager at home which was the total opposite of how my personality had ever been before I went on the pill and my poor boyfriend had to put up with my eratic moods. However within a couple of months of being off the pill I feel like a different person and back to my old self, my boyfriend has even commented on how unbelieveble the change has been and much more he likes living with me now haha One year on I can say that coming off the pill was the best choice I have made for years for me!
So whilst I don't know if hormonal contraception can be blamed for weight gain or slower losses it is interesting to see how this impacts 'real' women rather than test cases for the medical profession. My personal feeling is is does impact everyone differently so there are probably people out there who have gained wait because of this due to how it can change your appitite x