I went through this with my cat. I feed her twice a day --I had to fiddle with the amount to figure out what amount of kibble she needed to lose weight --and then, once she lost the weight, what amount of kibble she needed to maintain her new, ideal weight. I just used a cup measure and fiddled with amounts --coming from an Animal Science background, I could take her weight and figure out the kcal/cup she needed each day to reach/maintain a set weight--but meh --eyeballing it worked for us.
At first, I had trouble with her crying between meals because she wasn't used to the reduced kibble amount. I added green beans to her kibble ration to help her feel full --my cat is weird and LIKES green beans-but they have to be heated up a little bit in the microwave.
Here is a body condition scoring chart for cats to help you see when your cat has reached an ideal weight. You should see a tuck in the stomach (cat should have a waist) and you should be able to easily feel the ribs -but hip bones should not be protruding. A body condition score of 3 is ideal.
In addition to a laser pointer, don't forget the old flirt pole (pole with toy or feather dangling on a string) --cats LOVE those and will run around and around trying to get it. My cat goes nuts for anything with a bell or with catnip.