Actually, getting below the 2,000mg a day mark is pretty easy....
First step, eat less (that's better for you anyways) Smaller portions get better used by your body, less excess stored as fat or whatever. There's some clinical research that suggests diets containing smaller portions lead to longer llifespans in laboratory animals. The same holds true "anecdotally" in humans...
Watch the percentages and the actually per mg counts.
The percentages are based on a 2,400mg of sodium per day diet in the US. If you eat three meals a day, each less than 33% of the daily allowance for sodium, you're under 2,400mg right there. You can do that with some frozen entress even. I look for stuff form WeightWatchers and other "diet oriented" brands and I'm VERY picky. I'll spend 20 minutes or more in front of the freezer isle looking over labels, with all the glass doors fogged over because I keep opening and closing them to inspect the back of the packages.
An article I found in a quick Google search on sodium from the FDA site:
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fdsodium.html
If you're going REAL low (like Joe) then obviously there's more work involved. According to the article the average American is between 4,000 and 6,000mg a day. Most people that are at that level have a salt shaker on the kitchen table and are refilling it at least once a month...
In our house, the only place you'll find a salt shaker is in the bathroom (warm saltwater rinse after dental work) and in the cupboard (those are empty.) You will find a potassium chloride shaker that I use on occassion for whenever I have eggs or a baked (or mashed) potato. I've got a doctor's permission to use the potassium substitute.
If you can drink lots of water, that will certainly clean out a lot of sodium, but it might do away with other nutrients you need. I've gotta keep an eye on potassium levels (because of the diuretics) and that's part of why I have the OK to use potassium chloride. I also have a big jug of Campbells low sodium tomato juice in the fridge and I'll have a glass of that almost every day.
Note: You can put some Mrs. Dash or McCormick no sodium seasoning blends in the juice and pop that in the microwave for a bit, instant tomato soup!
Keep a journal. I did that when I started out after getting home from the hospital I logged everything that had sodium and totalled it up for each meal. I was religious with it when I made a sandwich... Spread stuff like mayo or mustard (there are no sodium mustards out there) thin. Watch how much an actual serving is, you might only use half that amount on a slice of bread.
A slice of whole wheat generally has half the sodium white does, depdning on the brand. Lorraine cheese is really good and low in sodium (about 3%) Swiss too.
It takes a lot of homework and careful study in the grocery store, but it's certainly not that hard....
There's a lot of good material in the recipe section here.
