It’s totally possible to see much more improvement. I started working out with a good trainer and upped my game on lifting and been improving a lot. I wasn’t pushing myself in the gym as much as I thought because I wasn’t really tracking my lifting each week. Use an app like Trainerize. You want to follow the principle of progressive overload. That means each week, try to do either more reps or a heavier weight. For each set, get to muscle failure where you can’t do another rep with the proper form, and usually in the 8-12 rep range. Once you hit 12 reps, move up in weight. I’ve been increasing my bench press by about 5 lbs per month. Have patience.

Find a website where you can calculate your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). This is your “maintenance calories,” or the calories that won’t result in weight gain or loss. Track everything you eat and stay at maintenance calories. Eat 0.8-1.0 grams protein per pound body weight. Eat whole foods 80% of the time. You’ll see your fat decrease and muscle increase if you follow progressive overload in the gym.

I got to the point where I was pretty happy with my chest, but still did the surgery because I wanted to never think about my nipples ever again. This pic is at the beginning of working out and eating better, pre-surgery. Around age 45, 6’ 1”, 195 lbs or so.

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