going over 1200 cal limit by a one or two hundred

Are you doing any exercise? If so, you should be eating those calories, too. If not, you may want to change your goal if you're set at the max of a desired 2 lb per week weight loss. Change it to 1 lb per week and that will allow you more calories while still losing. Be sure you're having snacks throughout the day and try to make them include a fiber and a protein which take longer to digest, keeping you satisfied longer. Good luck!

I feel like same exact way that you do. I think that 1,200 calories is such a low number though. It's my goal to stay below/around 1,200 but I have checked out multiple other websites that calculate your daily calorie intake to lose weight and it is much higher than what is suggested here. If you are going over your suggested intake by eating fruits or something healthy, I can't begin to imagine that it would hurt you in any way. A good way to satiate hunger is by drinking water, it will make you feel full.
You're not alone in this thinking. We're going to beat ourselves up because we want to succeed and don't want to feel like we're making mistakes. But you're body tells you when it's hungry and you shouldn't ignore it. It knows best!

Hey there! I'm someone who has always loved food and loved to eat, emotional eating issues aside. I can really relate to lamenting the small portions. I've spent my life in and out of weightloss camps (~10 summers) and what I can tell you from my experience there (and of course with countless personal nutritionists, etc.) is that there are some things you can really eat as much as you want of.

Vegetables are a great example -- if you find yourself starving, feel free to eat as much as you want of any non-starchy veg (ie: this does not include potatoes or beans; carrots are ok, but not the best option b/c they're high in sugar). Many veggies actually take more calories to digest than what you take in, though note that you should be drinking a lot of water to prevent... bathroom troubles. While fruit is higher in calories than vegies tend to be, if you stay away from high sugar fruits (bananas, grapes) and opt for higher fiber fruits (apples, pears, citrus) or fruits with a low calorie density (berries, some melons), you should be OK. I'd say you can also allow yourself, if you're really hungry, fat free soups/broths or non fat cottage cheese/yogurt. In other words, if you're going over the 1200 calories, make sure that the additional calories are coming from fat free, highly nutritious foods.

One of the reasons people tend not to stick to diets or to binge is because they feel deprived. If you're hungry and you don't meet those needs, you're more likely to get frustrated and give up.

Do a little research on low-calorie density foods. I'd almost always rather "get more bang for my calorie buck" and eat a larger portion of a lower calorie food.

The calorie limit that MFP set for me (to lose 1.5 lbs per week) has allowed me to shed 20 lbs in 5 weeks which is motivating on the one hand but not healthy or sustainable in the long run.
Today I raised my calories to 1500 per day and I feel good about it.
If I'm still losing more than 2 lbs per week on 1500, I'll raise it again.
This is going against everything I've done in the past to try to lose weight but I vowed that this last time I will do it right and be patient.

I'm feeling a warm sensation in my stomach after I eat and I'm experiencing tummy growls a few hours after. I think this is a sign of my body burning what I'm fuelling it with.

For myself, 1200 calories isn't sustainable and I always end up plateauing if I try that for too long.
I'm also 5'7" and feel that I'm too tall for that minimum. 1400 is also too little for me as my weight loss is too fast. (No, I can't believe I'm saying that)
I started out at 1350 which was 150 more than what the site suggested (in order to lose 2 lbs per week). I raised it to 1400. Had about 5 binges. Still am losing a crazy amount so 1500 it is. Scary stuff to tell someone who's had a problem with eating too much that it might be better to eat more to lose.
The quality of my food is a factor in how fast I'm losing, I think. If I were to eat 1400 calories of processed food, I wouldn't be melting like I am. My diet isn't completely clean but it's a far cry from how I eat when I'm gorging.

Egg white omelets! They are amazing and super low calorie. Grate off some frozen spinach, grate off some carrot, chop a little onion, add some squash roasted in a little water, a small dusting of dry grated parmesan: you can have an amazing omelet that is super low in calories. They cook up funny and stick to the pan like crazy, but they are so good! If you have time, bake a crustless quiche (less sticking) but you can also microwave egg white if you don't want to scrub a pan out before bedtime.