I have always free fed my cats - that is until I took princess Emily in for what I thought was a belly tumor and was sent home with a lecture, a laugh and a bag of prescription diet food (no charge either - I think the staff had enough fun with me) Dylan is also overweight. Those two will eat anything I put out. So, now I feed them twice a day - 1/3 cup each feeding, each. Eliot is fed freely which is a bit of a trick but I put his food up on the refrigerator or counter and sometimes put it away but het it out when I am watching - otherwise my two piggies will polish it off. They will not make the effort to get on the fridge though
I have NO IDEA how I will handle the feeding with the kittens now - probably enclose them in the bathroom for their meals for about 20 minutes or so.