I didn't know where to post this cause I thought if I put it in the low carb or atkins it would get slammed cause I think most people eat after 7 and have no problem - could be wrong. Anyway, i just thought this was worth saying. I am a member of the local Y here and my instructor was talking to me yesterday after I asked her "how do you look so good after 4 kids?" She is just a few years younger than me. Her reply was quick and to the point "I have never eaten anything past seven and i do not eat sugar - not even fake sugar" She eats something called organic sugar? I can't remember what she said as i was talking to several people at once after class. But point being, never in my entire life have I been able to not eat after 7. And I do claim to be low carb with no sugar but the reality of it is that I may eat a 1 cookie once or twice a day or 3 times a week, whatever. I just don't think. But anyway, since I work out as much as her (I basically take all of her classes) and then run on my own, i wanted to know what she did. Is there anyone who doesn't eat after 7? And have you seen results? I bet that is a dumb question, but i just want to hear it from others too. And yes, I know eating 10 cookies a week is bad but not the point to my post. Thanks to all.

I have no idea whether it has made a difference, but I always eat on basically the same schedule.

Breakfast between 530-630am, lunch 11-12, dinner 5-6.

Very rarely I might have a couple of almonds while watching a show after 7pm, but that might happen once or twice a month.

I think it's just another thing to micromanage a nutritional plan. The timing of your last meal is not nearly as important as the other components. I wouldn't put much thought into it personally. This is not to say that at some point long ago, I did not give it higher priority than I do now.

That the trainer doesn't eat after 7 isn't a scientific study- who knows if that's the reason she's so healthy looking? It could be anything else about her, including her body's genetic make up. Everybody is different and these differences are the result of many, many factors, and i would highly doubt that the reason you and her don't look the same is because she doesn't eat after 7.
Another thing that i think about a lot that has to do with the "not eating late" question- is people's eating schedules in other countries. Spain, for example, works on a very different feeding schedule than the U.S.- dinners are late at night, and that's normal. Is everybody in Spain fat? no. I don't know if any meaningful studies have been done on these differences, but it is something interesting to think about.
As to your question, i have done both- no eating late, and eating realllly late. I don't think it makes much of a difference, for me. What glaringly makes a huge difference in weightloss/ maintaining/ gaining, however, is the amount i eat, and what it is. This makes an even bigger difference than how much exercise i do, when it comes to my weight.

That might matter more if you were eating a higher carb diet...I don't know. And organic sugar is still sugar, btw. It's just not as processed.

I don't eat after 9pm, but then I don't generally want to. Anymore, that is! Maybe she used to have a problem with nightime munchies so gave herself a cut-off time? Maybe she saw it on Oprah? I'd imagine this is a YMMV thing. I do recall reading somewhere that meal timing wasn't a huge deal bc food is food no matter when you eat it. I don't remember where though.

the rule might help if you seem to have a problem with late night snacking. i know i do, as i usually am at home working or online in the evening, and am very prone to snack after dinner pointlessly. if i implement a no snacking past x time rule, i do find it helps. it just serves as a mental slap on the wrist when i am tempted to snack, rather than having no rule and then i do it mindlessly. but i would make the rule no eating after your final meal of the day, as setting a specific time is just damned inconvenient if you ask me, and could lead to you skipping dinner altogether if you miss the cutoff. which would be bad