I'm Russian too and food was always a big part of my family culture but nobody in my family is fat apart from my dad, who was very fit until his 40's and then just piled on the weight because of excessive alcohol consumption.  Things like going mushroom and berry picking in the summer and then making mushrooms in sour cream sauce for dinner and  baking a delicious berry pie for tea were all big parts of my family culture. Or making shashliki at the dacha. For birthdays and other holidays we also always got together in front of the table... even in the late 80's and early 90's at the time of great deficit my mom always managed to make something out of nothing to have a family dinner when we had a celebration.  Don't say food isn't a big part of the Russian culture because it totally is, my family wasn't different to other families I knew, even the traditional greeting of guests into a town consists of offering them bread and salt. Yes, most people eat very simply on a regular day but celebrating something with your family and friends at the dinner table is very traditional. Heck what is New Year's without salad olivie and selyodka pod shuboy? To this day I love cooking for my loved ones and the importance of being a good cook and a good housewife was something instilled into me from childhood. Yes Russia has very strict beauty ideals with regards to weight, especially for women, which is probably part of the reason I always cared about my weight but saying that food isn't a big part of the Russian culture is simply incorrect.