People with HIV often used to say that we would die of HIV anyway, so it wouldn’t matter how much we smoked, ate or drank. Thankfully, that isn’t true anymore.

With good care and treatment, people with HIV can now expect to live to a normal age. We are less likely to get sick from HIV or AIDS than in the past.

But as we live longer and grow older, common health problems like cancer and heart disease are increasingly likely to affect us too. This means that taking care of your health is more than a question of popping pills and having blood tests.

This booklet describes how you can reduce the risk of these health problems by eating a healthy diet, stopping smoking, and getting more exercise. It also highlights the importance of getting enough sleep, and suggests some basic precautions to help avoid opportunistic infections.

A lot of this booklet is about making changes to lifestyles. This isn’t always easy as it can involve changing habits and routines that we’ve got used to over a long period.

It may help if you set yourself goals. Decide what you want to achieve, and how you’ll work towards it.

• Set realistic goals – don’t set yourself up to fail
• Set short term, as well as long term goals
• Set precise goals so you’ll know when you’ve achieved them – “walk 20 minutes a day” is clearer than “be more active”
• Reward yourself when you achieve goals
• Work towards things that matter to you and will improve your quality of life

For example, you might want to cut the amount of fat you eat, and so give yourself the goal of eating fried foods no more than twice a week. Or you might want to be fitter, and set yourself the goal of being able to swim ten lengths without stopping.

It may also help to get the support of professionals. HIV dietitians, stopping smoking counsellors, and staff at sports centres can all help you to make the changes you want.