Good for you!

As far as fizzy water, I have a Kitchen Aid soda making machine and drink LOTS of soda water. I flavor it with RealLime or Real Grapefruit packets. Sometimes I will add a little no-salt (potassium chloride) which will give it a little salty taste too. Or electrolyte packet minerals (expensive for what you are getting but very convenient). Or sometimes just drink it straight.
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If all you need to do is lose weight and not correct other health conditions having a beer once in a while or other carbs is not a big deal. It might slow your progress but as long as you are losing at a reasonable rate it should not be a problem. If you stall out and quit losing weight then you might have to reconsider what you are consuming. But I would not beat myself up over the way you are approaching it.  The only other downside I can see is it might cause your cravings to hang on longer than if you stayed really strict. Different people have different issues with the cravings thing.

There are several different brands of pork rinds that are good. My favorite by far is the Mac's brand (available at WalMart) and the salt and pepper flavored are my favorite of them. The plain actually have a "cleaner" ingredients list, but I would not worry about that unless you were trying to do it for some severe health reason like seizures or autoimmune problems or something like that. Baken-etts are good too. The cheap ones from Aldi's are not bad at all. But Mac's flavored is what I would suggest you try. The important thing is to not fall off the wagon, and having foods you enjoy and can keep eating is an important part of the journey.

Instead of peanuts especially and also almonds try pecans, English walnuts or Macadamia nuts instead. They are higher in fat and lower in carbs.

Yes, taste buds absolutely change towards what we get used to eating. I eat things (and enjoy) now that I would not have touched with a ten foot pole before. I just had a tin of sardines as an apetizer before supper and I would not have touched them five years ago.

Hopefully your cravings go away. Mine did. It took the better part of a year and quitting the sweet taste of diet soda was my biggest hurdle. Once I quit the sweet taste the sugar cravings pretty well went away. Now about the only thing I have that is sweet is maybe one or two strawberries chopped up on top of a sour low carb desert or maybe 5-12 blueberries. I don't seem to crave more (my wife makes the serving size up and we do not go back for seconds) and that small amount of sweet seems to satisfy me for a desert item.

Good luck and don't be afraid to ask questions. Getting to be a lot of people here on AgTalk with first hand experience. Good experience from who I hear from.