1. Get Involved

Quit online channel-hopping and start getting involved by commenting and interacting on digital platforms created by your favorite health and fitness gurus. Read the aritlces and advice then comment on recipes, products and exercises described on the platforms or recommended by followers, agree or disagree, start discussions and be SOCIAL; that's the way to improve your life with social media, not tweeting about your cat's every move!

2. Follow Your Favorites on Instagram

Trainers, fitness gurus, food wizards and favorite athletes can provide you with a constant flow of wellness-fitness information. As well as getting a behind-the-curtains look into the lives of the super healthy and super fit, you can relate to them as human beings when Instagram shows how they deal with bad hair days or take selfies while tripping over their garbage bags. See? They're just like us, so you can be just as fit and healthy as they are!

3. Enter Podcast Heaven

You can improve your life with social media like podcasts that leave your hands free and your mind open for new ideas on fitness and health issues. Brimming with sound advice and information on a wide range of wellness related and lifestyle issues, podcasts are also entertaining and fun to listen to, and you can do stuff at the same time like treading the pedals of your static exercise bike commuting to work.

4. Sign up for Newsletters

Instead of racing through your favorite blogs to soak up as much information about health and fitness as your brain can take, sign up for the newsletters many bloggers produce. That way you can get updates on important issues and you'll never miss anything. Newsletters allow websites and blog sites to go into far greater detail on important issues, making them a valuable resource in your efforts to improve your life with social platforms.

5. Take Advantage of the Twitter List Feature

It's easy to miss important tweets in the barrage of stuff you get every day, but with Twitter's easy-to-set-up lists feature you'll never miss another important tweet that has the potential to turn your life around. Collect bloggers, experts and organizations in one spot to have easy access.

6. Create an Online Recipe Collection

Now what was that low-calorie dish you saw the other day, the one your new boyfriend thought was simply divine? Instead of tearing your hair out because you cannot find a web page, simply collect and save your favorite recipes in one or two digital "scrapbooks". You can either use Pinterest to start off with or get an app dedicated to cooking, if you're a real foodie at heart. Many of these platforms have amazing features that enable you to create shopping lists, plan whole menus or cut calories from your meal plan without losing out on flavors.

7. Use Calendar Prompts

Setting calendar alerts improves your life with social media AND helps you become more organized at the same time. Be sure to program each alert as a "recurring" event, or you won't keep up the habit. A digital diary like Google Calendar, iCal or similar can be instrumental in keeping you on the healthy track: from reminding you to consume the first cup of water from your 8 to 9 quota per day or to take a brisk walk at lunchtime so sunlight and fresh air can improve your concentration, Vitamin D levels and mood.

Now the next time someone tells you social media is a waste of time or it ruins your life, you can tell them otherwise.

What is the biggest benefit/advantage social media has for you?