It certainly seems like a risky situation to get into. I'm sure lawyers would probably always advise you to file first anyway. For one thing you aren't a lawyer

It certainly seems like a risky situation to get into. I'm sure lawyers would probably always advise you to file first anyway. For one thing you aren't a lawyer so the way you wrote up your publication may only cover an extremely narrow aspect of your invention. But once you publish the invention, others should not be able to patent the idea anymore as there is prior art (your publication) and patents are required to be novel. This leaves you as the only person who can patent it.