Health education and health promotion are both predicated upon the assumption that various behaviours which may affect health status are susceptible to planned change. Although it is evident that a great deal of behavioural change occurs, little information is available about self-initiated changes in health-related behaviour. This paper reports ‘private’ accounts from a small selected group of respondents who had changed or attempted to change some behaviour. The results suggest that health, fitness and well-being are conceptualised in very different ways, that behavioural change normally follows a period of contemplation and that changing specifically for health reasons is comparatively rare. It is suggested that health-related behaviours are built into everyday activities in a ‘routine’ fashion so that they are not vulnerable to health messages. The implications of the findings for strategies in health education are discussed as is their significance for a reconceptualisation of the process of behavioural change.