I think it all depends on calories consumed. If you are not at your limit for the day...why not eat later. Everybody's schedule is different. Like me....I'm up at 11:00a I eat breakfast at 11:30a. Have lunch by 3:00p. Snack at 6:00p....and then eat dinner at 9:00p. It's generally salad, meat and veggies. If I'm still up at around 12:00a....I have a snack. It's fine cause I know that I haven't gone over my calories for the day. If I stopped eating earlier, I wouldn't be getting my fat in. That's just me....what do I know. Until there is some scientific proof that eating late cause weight gain, I have to eat. The whole point of this WOE is to not be hungry. I am not about to go to be with my stomach growling. I'm not in a race to lose pounds. Slow and steady is the way to go. If my scale goes up , it will eventually go down as long as I'm staying on program with the types of foods, my exercise, and my water intake. When you start putting too many restrictions on yourself,you tend to want to taper off course. Just my little tidbit.