There is no benefit to eating numerous small meals or not eating after a certain time... Both of these are tools which help some people to limit their calorie intake. The bottom line is that it is total calories in (via food and drink) vs total calories burnt (by being alive and moving about). Making the diet as nutritious as possible by hitting all sorts of targets for protein, calcium, fibre, healthy fat, water etc has major advantages - but calories in vs calories out is central to weight loss.