Calorie Deficits

That's a hard question to answer and is going to depend on your body and your goals. Start with what MFP recommends then tweak it from there to optimize performance with deficit. Work on only changing one part of the plan at a time, for example, if you're results aren't coming, don't drop caloric intake by 20%, alter macronutrient percentages and up your exercise all at the same time.

Don't get caught up in the eat your exercise cals versus don't argument. People will argue one way or the other like it's a religion. MFP only provides estimations in terms of BMR and caloric expenditure and if you track your intake and expenditure long enough to trend the results you will know what works for you.

There's a big difference between the strategy that a person takes who intends to drop from 13 to 8 percent body fat and someone who intends (or has successfully) dropped from 35 to 28 % body fat. Seek out those who have had success with similar goals.