Cat Eats Too Much Food

My cat about a year old. He's getting sort of obese, and he has a pretty big fat patch on his underside. I play with him whenever I can.

Recently, I've been cutting down his food intake, only feeding him three times a day, morning, afternoon, and night (around 6).

We used to leave a little food out at night for him to nibble on, but with this new diet he cries all the time for food, and I know he doesn't have a tapeworm.

If I go into the kitchen in the middle of the night, he will cry so loud, it hurts my ears. He'll run over to the food bowl, and won't stop meowing.

And he will also act like he's starving, but I know he can't be! I don't want him to be fat, but I want the crying to stop.