how did i miss this??

I've become a bit of a health nut. last november my dad was rushed to the hospital on the verge of a heart attack. congestive heart failure. his health has steadily declined since then. it's been an eye opening experience for me, as one of his traits that i definitely inherited was his eating habits. he and I have the same doctor, and the doc and I had a serious talk about my health after all that went down. so in december, i started changing, slowly, how i eat and what i do with my spare time.

jan 1, 2007 i weighed 286 lbs. yesterday i weighed in at 211. i know it's been almost 10 months but i wanted to take it slow. that first month i lost a BUNCH of weight and promptly put it all right back on so i slowed it down, and the results have been awesome.

i was exercising when i worked at the university, because i had ultra cheap access to a very nice gym. i got another job at a big media company in atl a few months ago and lost access to that gym, although i want to join a gym somewhere...

that being said i dont know jack squat about exercise. i can use machines, but freeweights seem so much cheaper and better but i dont know what to do with them. any of you guys know of any good resources to learn proper exercise? i dont really wanna pay a trainer...