I think two of the most generally accepted views on eating are the "3 meals a day. / Eat more smaller meals throughout the day to keep the fire burning."
As it has been said countless times, just eat less than you burn, and you will lose.
I have been doing the warrior diet for months now. I try to eat almost all of my calories in a window between 6 and 10. If I don't eat 1 meal, I stick as close as I can to small snacks as possible. I was at 205 lbs at my heaviest, and I am now 30 lbs. lighter than that.
Read up on intermittent fasting, and its reported benefits. For me, this way of life works out much better. With a small snack (i keep dried cranberries and cashews at work) or no snack at all I never crash like i did when i ate a full lunch. I don't get nearly as hungry as I did when my blood sugar was probably always elevated. I eat whatever I want whenever I want on the weekends, and it has little to no effect on my weight. Only black coffee or tea during the day.
Without a doubt my skin is much better. I'm probably a bit more tired at the end of the day, but at work I am just as productive if not more so. This way I don't reach for and eat everything that is accessible. Lets face it, people aren't gaining tons of weight eating fruits and vegetables, and when you have a busy lifestyle these just aren't as easy as processed foods. With a narrower eating window, I find I am considerably more likely to take the time to prepare something that is actually good for my body.
In any case, I think the metabolism idea is totally asinine. The number one indicator for a longer life (that relates to diet) is calorie restriction. I'm not saying that consuming 0 calories is better than 1000, but there are numerous publications that suggest fasting on occasion has a lot of benefits to overall health... one of which is weight loss.
