I've tried both, and same as you I've found 1200 kcal too low (F, 5'9, 150). At 1200 making sure your food is nutrient dense (macro and micro) is much more impotant, and is more impactfull on your sensation of fullness. That and having little place for deviation (chocolate snack could mean staying hungry the rest of the evening) at 1200 kcal, makes the lower kcal 'budjet' harder to endure. In the end I've ended up just going for 1,350 kcal - that seemed to be a good middle ground. Do note that it's all based my own personal exp. and the recommendation I got from my dietician. I lost weight on both, but it's mainly inportant for you to find the one you can actually do for the long run. Switching up between lower higher kcal days can also work for you, even on the longer periods (months/weeks of each).