He sounds just like my dog, Oreo!! We had to put Oreo on a diet, too, and he is at his ideal weight now, and gets fed twice a day now. He licks his bowl clean, sniffs and licks the floor for any littel morsel he can find, and acts like he thinks he's starving to death in between feedings.

Maybe your cat is just so used to eating more that he thinks he needs more than he really does. He probably thinks he's starving to death, too. But in his best interest, it is probably best to just keep feeding him at a regular time each day. Otherwise he'd probably eat as much as you would give him if you were free-feeding him. Then he would gain weight again and you'd have to start all over again.