I feel that my progress is on par with most naturals.
no offense, dude, but if you're 22 then you've been lifting for 8 years. in 8 years of lifting you have accomplished very, very little. i think your problem isn't that you didn't have the adonis principles, it's just that you didn't have a fucking clue what you were doing. i hate posting pictures of myself, but for reference here's what i looked like with roughly one year of lifting under my belt.

i was 18 there (hence the epic school art projects on the wall of my parents' house

) and had started lifting near the end of my junior year in high school, so i'd say i had maybe a year of bodybuilding. after 8 years, you should be light years beyond me, but you're not.
oh and for the record, when i looked like that i ate a high protein and low carb diet, mostly lean meats and oats. that type of thing. chances are i'll start doing it again to drop back down.