Shake the water part and the curd part back together before straining out the grains. The water part is called whey and it shouldn't be thrown away. Mix or blend it back into the curds before drinking. Kefir is a drink, not a thick yogurt. If you just eat the curds you are basically eating very fresh cheese curds. Also, it is okay to drink the kefir before it completely separates into the two layers unless you want to remove all the lactose, for example.