You are actually very close. We can go on from your last inequality, with $x=2u, y=2v, z=2w$, we need to show $$u+v+w \ge u^2v^2+v^2w^2+ w^2u^2\tag{1}$$ for $u^2+v^2+w^2=3$. Now, the RHS of (1) is $$\frac{(u^2+v^2+w^2)^2 - (u^4+v^4+w^4)}2 = \frac{9- (u^4+v^4+w^4)}2$$ So we need to prove $$u^4+ v^4 + w^4 + 2(u+v+w) \ge9.$$ But this is clear since:
$$u^4 + u + u \ge 3\sqrt[3]{u^4\cdot u\cdot u} = 3u^2,$$ and so on. QED.