pros only....no cons....lowering carbs

When I low carb I can eat between 1200 to 1500 calories with no cravings or hunger pains. I'm male and eat less than 30 grams a day.

I've had success with it a few times with various approaches (though slamming right back into unhealthy carb-heavy eating will ensure that you regain at least all the weight you lost.)

Super low-carb eating (fewer than 50 net grams per day) will eventually put your body into ketosis (sounds like scientology, but it's legit), meaning that your body begins burning ketones instead of carbs for energy within about 48-72 hours. This will cause weight to basically fly off your body, but is obviously not sustainable for most people in the long term (and probably not healthy.) I did this in my early 20's and got shredded pretty quickly.

Medium low-carb eating (between 50-150 net grams per day) will usually result in reliably gradual weight loss and is definitely sustainable- lots of veggies, little bit of fruit, full fat dairy, nuts and protein should keep you full. The need to count calories while eating this way is a matter of some debate and personal preference. I'm doing this presently and have lost about 20 lbs in a few months.

Either of these approaches requires an increase in consumption of healthy fats (and omega 3 from fish oil helps too), or else you'll be starving and miserable every day. Low-cab and low-fat together is a bad mix. The body needs energy, and healthy fat is the best way to supply it in the absence of carbs.

And yes, you will find within a week- or even days- of cutting out refined carbohydrates that certain cravings simply disappear. Your energy levels fluctuate less throughout the day and you may feel more energetic overall. The simplest guidepost to follow is to cut out added sugar (everything except for fruit) and bread- all kinds. You'd be surprised at how even the smallest bit of wheat or sugar will set off a chain reaction of cravings.

I try to eat "slower carb" rather than lower carb. It does WONDERS for cravings and blood sugar swings. I've heard the same about lower carb. Good luck with whatever you choose. YOU know YOUR body best.

There are lots of ways you can do this and you should really experiment to see what works for you. Personally I drink the heck out of some diet coke even though I've largely restricted my carb intake, and in general I don't sweat artificial sweeteners (although powdered forms contain a bit of starch, but I never use enough for that to be an issue). I don't see any effect from it, other than I enjoy diet coke.

Additionally, the amount of carbs you take in won't affect the rate of fat loss so much as your caloric deficit will. While someone suggested that weight will just "fly off you" in a state of ketosis, that's only water weight that's shed as your muscle glycogen stores are depleted. Water weight is only relevant if you compete in a sport with weight classes, and when it comes to fat loss, that's dictated by your caloric deficit. In short, don't sweat the water weight. As for regaining the weight when you reintroduce carbs, that's again only water weight being added as you replenish your muscle glycogen. As a simple example, if you lose 50 pounds of fat and drop 10 pounds of water weight on a low carb diet, you should expect the 10 pounds of water weight (more or less) to return when you do a carb refeed. The 50 pounds of fat will not return unless you eat a caloric surplus sufficient to add 50 pounds of fat. In short, the rate of loss (at least the kind of loss that matters) doesn't really change.

My personal advice is to track all your macros/calories throughout the process, since you need to be tracking carbs regardless (preferably using a food scale). That way, if you transition to a different macro distribution down the road, your routine with respect to logging your food and watching your macros doesn't change whatsoever.