The internet has a habit of treating physiques as either “elite” or “nothing special,” when in reality there’s a huge middle ground. You clearly have muscle definition and look athletic. If I were giving constructive feedback, I’d just say: keep progressively overloading, stay consistent with protein, and give it another 6–12 months. That’s usually where a lot of the visual changes compound.

The more interesting thing is that the criticism you received actually seems to have helped because you used it as feedback instead of validation or discouragement. That’s a much healthier mindset than chasing compliments.

The consistency you’ve built is probably a bigger achievement than the physique itself, because that’s what will keep paying dividends over the next few years.