Where's the Beef? Bill Clinton Is PETA's Person of the Year

Surprise! PETA has named former junk-food junkie Bill Clinton its Person of the Year, after the ex-president gave up his Big Macs and became a vegan.

Clinton once unabashedly dished about his love of fast food, but turned to plants this year when his daughter, Chelsea, asked him to get in shape before her July wedding. And after forgoing animal products, Clinton lost 24 pounds.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is tickled. "Thanks to his new plant-based diet, he's shed some pounds, decreased his risk of future heart problems, and spared the lives of many animals," the group said in a statement. "Because he uses his influence to promote the benefits of following a vegan diet, PETA is pleased to name Bill Clinton its 2010 Person of the Year."

PETA Names Vegan Bill Clinton as it's person of the year

Bill Clinton is pictured in 1994 and 2010. After giving up meat in his diet, he lost 24 pounds. Now he's been named PETA's Person of the Year for going vegan.

Clinton -- who underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2004 and had two stents inserted earlier this year because of blocked arteries -- also hopes the new diet will be easier on his heart.

"I did all this research, and I saw that 82 percent of the people since 1986 who have gone on a plant-based, no dairy or meat of any kind, no chicken, turkey -- I eat very little fish, once in a while I'll have a little fish; not often -- if you can do it, 82 percent of the people who have done that have begun to heal themselves," he recently said in an interview with CNN.

Just last year a Washington Post reporter spotted the former president at a Washington, D.C., burger joint waiting for this order: "a double burger (hold the mayo), onion rings, french fries, apple pie milkshake." But these days, it seems, Bubba is more into legumes.

"I live on beans, legumes, vegetables, fruit," he told CNN. "I drink a protein supplement every morning -- no dairy, I drink almond milk mixed in with fruit and a protein powder so I get the protein for the day when I start the day up."